Human rights groups accuse Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of using capital punishment as a tool following nationwide protests.

The Islamic Republic of Iran executed over 1,000 prisoners in 86 prisons across the country in 2024, according to a report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The report says the death toll is “an unprecedented figure in the past three decades,” and represents an increase of 16% from the 864 executions conducted in 2023.

The number of people executed in Iran rose to 901 last year, including 31 women, some of whom were convicted of murdering their husbands to fend off rape or after being forced into marriage, the U.N.