Hengaw raises alarm over record rise in executions of political prisoners across Iran

At least 43 political and conscience prisoners have been executed in prisons across Iran since the beginning of 2026, according to statistics documented by the Statistics and Documentation Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. During the same period, another 42 political and conscience activists have received either preliminary or final death sentences.

Documented findings gathered by Hengaw indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran has sharply escalated the issuance and implementation of death sentences against political and conscience dissidents in recent months.

The sharp rise in executions comes after 18 political and conscience prisoners were executed during the same period in 2025, reflecting a 139 percent increase compared to the previous year. Notably, the total number of political and conscience prisoners executed throughout all of 2025 stood at 43 cases.

This dramatic escalation in less than half a year points to the increasingly systematic use of the death penalty by the Iranian judiciary as a mechanism to suppress dissent and intensify fear across society.

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights expresses grave concern over this accelerating pattern of violations of the fundamental right to life and calls for immediate and effective action by international institutions and human rights mechanisms to halt these executions and push for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran.