UN urges Iran to halt executions

GENEVA

Iranian authorities have executed at least 841 people since the beginning of the year, the UN said on Friday, urging the government of Iran not to implement the death penalty.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Office of Human Rights, at a weekly press briefing in Geneva, said Iran has ignored multiple calls to join the worldwide movement towards the abolition of the death penalty.

“Iranian authorities executed 110 people in July alone. This is more than twice the number executed in July of last year and follows a major increase in executions during the first half of 2025," Shamdasani said.

"The high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of using the death penalty as a tool of state intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants."

The spokesperson said 11 people in Iran are currently facing the death penalty, emphasizing that “capital punishment is incompatible with the right to life and irreconcilable with human dignity.”

She said that under international human rights law, the death penalty should never be imposed for acts protected by human rights, and called on the Iranian government not to carry out executions.

Shamdasani said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has also called on Iran to impose a moratorium on the application of capital punishment, as a step towards its abolition.