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Amnesty International: Iran executed over 2,000 people last year

2026-05-18 11:42:01, Kosova & Bota CNA

Iran executed a "shocking" 2,159 people in 2025, Amnesty International said in a report published on May 18. According to the human rights organization, the number of executions has surpassed the 1981 record set in the country.

Amnesty International said at least 2,707 people were executed worldwide last year, although death sentences imposed in China are not included in that figure.

The London-based organization said that "thousands of executions" have been carried out in China, the country that uses the death penalty the most. However, according to Amnesty, the details are unclear due to "state secrecy" over data in China.

Amnesty said the global figure for 2025 - which includes executions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Yemen, Singapore and the United States - represents an increase of more than two-thirds compared to the total in 2024.

"This trend was most pronounced in countries where authorities have tightened their grip on power, restricting civil space, silencing dissent, and showing disregard for protections established by international human rights laws and standards," the statement said.

In particular, the “shocking increase in recorded executions in Iran” came at a time when authorities “intensified the use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression and control,” particularly after the June 2025 war with Israel.

Amnesty and other human rights groups have said Tehran is intensifying its use of the death penalty after massive anti-government protests in January and the war that subsequently erupted against Israel and the United States.

The organization said that 2,159 executions were recorded in Iran in 2025, and this figure “constitutes the highest number since 1981” that has been recorded in the country. It is also the highest number recorded in a single country since that year.

Due to the difficulty of obtaining concrete information, other groups have offered other figures regarding executions in Iran.

The non-governmental organization Human Rights Iran – an organization based in Norway – said earlier this year that at least 1,639 people were executed in Iran last year.

Tehran has admitted to executing 30 people so far this year.

Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions last year, which is higher than the record set in 2024 of at least 345 executions, Amnesty said.

Executions in Kuwait rose from six in 2024 to 17. In Egypt, the number of executions rose from 13 to 23. In Yemen, the annual figures rose from 38 to at least 51.

Meanwhile, in the US, Amnesty said there had been an "unprecedented increase" in executions in Florida - where 19 death sentences were recorded - bringing the total to 47, the highest figure since 2009./REL