Rights groups say Iran ratcheting up pace of executions, 166 put to death last month

Iran executed 166 people in October, a human rights group says, marking the deadliest month for the country’s justice system since records began being kept in 2007.

According to Iran Human Rights, only 20 of the 166 executions were announced publicly. They include over a dozen Afghan citizens and a German-Iranian dual citizen.

At least 64 people were given the death penalty for drug-related offenses, continuing a marked increase in Iran’s deadly enforcement of its anti-narcotics rules, according to human rights groups.

Iran Human Rights says a total of 651 people were executed by Iran from January to October 2024, putting it on track to nearly match last year’s total of 853, which marked an eight-year high.

Human Rights Watch says the pace of executions has continued into November, with dozens of Kurdish political prisoners and others sentenced to death thus far, including on allegations of spying for Israel.

“Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of fear, particularly targeting ethnic minorities and political dissidents after unfair trials,” acting Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch Nahid Naghshbandi says in a statement. “This brutal tactic aims to suppress any opposition to an autocratic government through intimidation.”