Relentless on Drugs and Murder... Iran Executes an Average of 9 People a Day, Already Reaching 1,000 This Year

Record Number of Executions Since 2008
Half for Drug Offenses, Followed by Murder
Crackdown on Domestic Spies Collaborating with Israel

Iranian authorities, who have been in conflict with the Trump administration in the United States over nuclear development, have reportedly carried out at least 1,000 executions this year, according to a human rights organization in Iran. On September 23, Yonhap News cited a report released by the Iranian human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR), stating that since the beginning of this year, more than nine executions by hanging have taken place daily in Iran, amounting to at least 1,000 executions.

Analyzing the charges of death row inmates who were executed by hanging over the past eight months, 50% were related to drug offenses, 43% to murder, 3% to national security crimes, 3% to rape, and 1% to espionage activities recruited by Israel. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

The figure of approximately 1,000 executions is the highest since Iran Human Rights began publishing annual execution statistics in Iran in 2008. Previously, the highest number was 977 in 2015, and last year there were 975 executions. Analyzing the charges of death row inmates who were executed by hanging over the past eight months, 50% were related to drug offenses, 43% to murder, 3% to national security crimes, 3% to rape, and 1% to espionage activities recruited by Israel. Iran Human Rights pointed out that only 11% of the 1,000 executions identified were officially announced, and the actual number may be higher when including unreported cases.

Iran Human Rights stated, "In recent months, Iran has begun committing mass killings in prisons, and the scale is expanding daily in the absence of a serious response from the international community," adding that "the death penalty is being used as a tool for political repression." Earlier, in June, Iran engaged in a 12-day military conflict with Israel after Israel bombed Iranian nuclear facilities, and since then, domestic spies who cooperated with Israel have been identified and executed in succession.

On the Eve of Restored Economic Sanctions, Iran's Supreme Leader Says "No Direct Negotiations with the U.S."

Meanwhile, on September 24, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, declared that there is no benefit for Iran to engage in nuclear negotiations with the United States and stated that Iran would not give up uranium enrichment. According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, Ayatollah Khamenei said in a video address, "Negotiating with the U.S. administration under the current circumstances does not serve our national interest and is harmful to us." He emphasized, "The United States has already predetermined the outcome of the negotiations as the suspension of Iran's nuclear activities and enrichment. This is not a negotiation but an order and coercion." He reiterated his intention to maintain uranium enrichment, referring to the deadlock in bilateral nuclear talks over the issue, and said, "We will not yield to pressure."

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Nuclear negotiations between the two countries, which began in April at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump, were suspended in June after Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and have not yet resumed. The United Kingdom, France, and Germany, all signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), announced last month that they would initiate the "snapback" procedure to restore United Nations sanctions against Iran, as stipulated in the JCPOA, thereby pressuring Iran to resume nuclear negotiations. On September 19, a resolution to maintain the end of sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program was rejected at the United Nations Security Council.

Unless a separate Security Council agreement is reached, sanctions against Iran are set to be reinstated on September 28. On this day, U.S. President Donald Trump, in his keynote address at the high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly held at the UN headquarters in New York to mark the 80th anniversary of the UN's founding, proposed "nuclear development suspension first, economic cooperation later" to Iran, which is in conflict with the international community over its nuclear development program. President Trump stated, "Iran continues to pose constant threats to its neighbors, U.S. interests, and several major powers nearby," and explained that the 'Midnight Hammer' operation, in which the United States bombed Iran's nuclear facilities in June, was unavoidable.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.