According to Amnesty International, more than 1,000 people were executed in Iran in just the first nine months of 2025. This is the highest number documented in 15 years. In a recent statement, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights described it as a "grave violation of the right to life."

Charges that the Iranian judiciary deems serious enough to warrant the death penalty include "collaboration with enemy governments," "armed rebellion against the state," and "corruption on Earth."

Since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, there has been a significant increase in the number of people brought to trial on such charges. The conflict that had smoldered for decades erupted into open war when Israel attacked numerous targets in Iran. Since the attacks, the Iranian authorities have intensified their search for people allegedly responsible for the failure of state institutions.

Internal crackdowns

"The war and political crises mean less attention is paid to human rights abuses," the human rights lawyer and Sakharov Prize-winner Nasrin Sotoudeh told DW.

Sotoudeh, who lives in Tehran, has campaigned for many years on behalf of political prisoners. "The leadership often tries to gloss over its failures with internal crackdowns," she said. "In recent decades, we've seen repeatedly that, after it suffers a setback, pressure on women increases, and the dress code is enforced more rigorously. This time, pressure is also being brought to bear on refugees from Afghanistan, who have been deported en masse, and on people who were already subject to court proceedings and suddenly found themselves facing new charges."

The case of Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri

One high-profile case is that of the Kurdish political prisoner Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, who has been in prison since April 18, 2023.

"My father was arrested because he brought medical supplies to the wounded in the city of Bukan during the nationwide protests in 2022, supporting the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement by doing so," his daughter, Zhino Beigzadeh Babamiri, told DW.

Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges that included "assembly and collusion with the intention of undermining national security," "espionage and collaboration with enemy states," and "membership of illegal groups."

After the Iran-Israel war in June, he was additionally charged with spying for Israel, and was sentenced to death. "My father was an activist in the protests of 2022. He was always on the side of the protesters, and has said so openly," said his daughter, who now lives in exile in Norway.

Along with other Iranian women whose fathers are facing execution, or have been executed, Zhino Beigzadeh Babamiri co-founded the Daughters of Justice group. "Our efforts are not just on behalf of political prisoners, or those we're convinced are innocent; they are aimed at abolishing the death penalty altogether," she explained.

"When the children of people who have been sentenced to death contact us and try with all their might to convince us of their father's innocence, I tell them it's not relevant. No human life should be extinguished by execution. Of course, someone who commits a crime should be punished, but this punishment must be in accordance with the laws and principles of human rights."

Extending the death penalty

The Iranian authorities have been using the charge of "undermining national security" as a pretext for carrying out death sentences more swiftly. In June, Iran's chief justice, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje'i, openly called for those accused of "supporting or collaborating with enemy states," such as Israel, to be brought to trial without delay, and executed.

The Iranian parliament has also passed laws that extend the application of the death penalty even further. In future, vaguely worded charges such as "collaboration with a hostile state or group" may also be punishable by death and the confiscation of all the person's property. The security authorities will be the ones to decide what constitutes collaboration.

"Justice can only be guaranteed by the independence of the judiciary," said Sotoudeh. "But our judiciary is not in any way independent."

This article has been translated from German.