Iran executed 187 prisoners in September — highest monthly toll in 20 years

Hengaw – Wednesday, October 1, 2025

At least 187 prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons during September 2025, marking a 140% increase compared to September 2024, when 78 executions were recorded. This is the highest number of executions carried out in a single month in Iran over the past two decades.

Based on the data compiled by the Statistics and Documentation Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the identities of 181 executed prisoners have been confirmed, while six remain under verification. The executions included three political prisoners — Mehran Bahramian from Semirom, Babak Shahbazi from Karaj, and Bahman Choubi-Asl — as well as two prisoners of conscience: Mohammad Kashfi from Bandar Khamir and Eskandar Bazmandegan from Khur in Fars Province.

At least six women were among those executed, in prisons in Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, Qazvin, Zanjan, and Sabzevar. The cases included Gohar Taheri Aghdam, Zahra Fotouhi, Mehnaz Dehghani, Jeyran Zaheri, and one unidentified woman, all convicted of “premeditated murder,” as well as Hadigheh Abadi, an Afghan national executed on drug-related charges. 

Despite the unprecedented scale, only eight executions — about 4% of the total — were reported by Iranian state media or judiciary-affiliated outlets. At least 14 prisoners were executed in secret, without notifying their families or granting a final visit.

Ethnic and national breakdown

Hengaw recorded the execution of:

35 Kurdish prisoners (19%)

23 Lor prisoners (12%)

15 Turk prisoners

14 Baloch prisoners

8 Gilak prisoners

4 Arab prisoners

10 Afghan nationals

57 Fars prisoners

21 prisoners of unconfirmed ethnicity

Breakdown of charges

Nearly half of all executions were related to drug offenses:

Political prisoners: 3

Religious prisoners: 2

Drug-related offenses: 92 (49%)

Premeditated murder: 90

Regional distribution

Executions were documented in 26 provinces, with the highest numbers in:

Alborz Province: 22

Fars Province: 17

Isfahan Province: 16

Khorasan Razavi Province: 15

East Azerbaijan & Qom Provinces: 11 each

Lorestan Province: 10

Hamedan and Kerman Provinces: 8 each

Kermanshah (Kermashan) and Khuzestan Provinces: 7 each

Mazandaran and Qazvin Provinces: 6 each

Sistan and Baluchistan Province: 5

Kurdistan (Sanandaj/Sine), Markazi, Golestan, Zanjan, and Ilam Provinces: 4 each

Gilan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and Bushehr Provinces: 3 each

 Yazd, Semnan, and South Khorasan Provinces: 2 each

Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province: 1

Unknown location: 1