The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday called for a halt to the increasing number of executions in Iran, as a step towards abolishing death penalty.
“Iranian authorities have executed at least 841 people since the beginning of the year and up until 28 August 2025, according to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office. Iran has been ignoring multiple calls to join the worldwide movement towards abolition of the death penalty,” said Ravina Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson.
“In July alone, Iranian authorities executed 110 individuals. This represents more than double the number of people executed in July of last year, and follows a major increase in executions during the first half of 2025,” Shamdasani told reporters at the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
“The high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of using death penalty as a tool of State intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants,” she added.
Currently facing imminent execution are 11 individuals; six of them charged with “armed rebellion” due to their alleged membership of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) group, and five in relation to their participation in the 2022 protests. On 16 August 2025, the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence against workers' rights activist Sharifeh Mohammadi.
“The death penalty is incompatible with the right to life and irreconcilable with human dignity. It creates an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people,” the spokesperson said. “It should never be imposed for conduct that is protected under international human rights law.”
“We call on the Government of Iran not to implement the death penalty against these and other individuals on death row. And once again, we call on Iran to impose a moratorium on the application of the capital punishment, as a step towards its abolition,” Shamdasani said.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
Ravina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Marta Hurtado: + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org
Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on increasing executions in Iran
TRT: 01:44
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 29 August 2025 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
- Interior shot: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Iranian authorities have executed at least 841 people since the beginning of the year and up until 28 August, according to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office. Iran has been ignoring multiple calls to join the worldwide movement towards abolition of the death penalty.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “In July alone, Iranian authorities executed 110 individuals. This represents more than double the number of people executed in July of last year, and follows a major increase in executions during the first half of 2025. The high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of using death penalty as a tool of State intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The death penalty is incompatible with the right to life and irreconcilable with human dignity. It creates an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people. It should never be imposed for conduct that is protected under international human rights law.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We call on the Government of Iran not to implement the death penalty against these and other individuals on death row. And once again, we call on Iran to impose a moratorium on the application of the capital punishment, as a step towards its abolition.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , OHCHR
Middle East crisis puts aid, food, fuel further out of reach for millions already struggling – UN agencies
As the Middle East crisis continues the humanitarian fallout is worsening, with aid route disruptions and food and fuel price hikes wrecking the lives and rights of the most vulnerable, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNMAS
Demining experts from around the world have been sharing their collective shock at the widespread and growing threat from unexploded ordnance, the new head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office in Syria conducted a 5-day visit to the northeast of the country where they received accounts of human rights violations and abuses.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Sudan: ‘History repeating itself’ for Darfur’s children - UNICEF
Mass atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur 20 years ago reverberated as far as Hollywood, but today, a new generation of children faces attacks, hunger and displacement in an emergency largely ignored by the outside world, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNMAS
Desperate and dangerous conditions in Gaza continue to hamper recovery efforts for the wartorn enclave's people, the UN health agency said on Friday, while demining experts warned that they’ve “barely scratched the surface” in assessing the level of contamination of unexploded ordnance.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News
The continued support of UN Member States to Lebanon will be “indispensable” to boost the country’s national armed forces and provide humanitarian assistance with more than one million people still uprooted by the Middle East war, the UN's peacekeeping chief said on Wednesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNECE
Middle East war: After oil and gas shortages, concerns grow over critical minerals crunch
The shipping crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by war in the Middle East has exposed a new threat: a looming shortage of strategic minerals needed to drive economies all over the world and a race by countries to obtain them.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM
Millions of desperate Sudanese return home amid dire conditions as war rages – IOM
Three years into the devastating conflict in Sudan, nearly four million displaced people have returned to their places of origin across the country, only to face “another struggle for survival”, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNESCO
UNESCO protects cultural sites in war-torn Middle East, confirming damage to key heritage.