Iran

Rights Groups Say Executions in Iran Reach Highest Level Since 2015

In this photo released by Mizan News Agency, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a protester convicted and executed, speaks during his trial at the Revolutionary Court, in the city of Karaj, Iran, on Nov. 30, 2022. Iran said it executed Karami on Jan. 7, 2023.

Two human rights groups said in a report issued Thursday that Iran executed at least 582 prisoners last year, the country’s highest level since 2015.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said the number of executions had risen 75% compared to the previous year.

The groups said in their report that Iran uses the death penalty as a way to intimidate and oppress people in order to maintain power.

The report said about half of the executions were for murder charges.

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Citing the protests that began in September following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, the groups said four protesters have been executed and that 100 others “remain at risk of death penalty charges, sentences and execution.”