As the United Nations issued a condemnation of Iran’s execution spree “in the strongest terms,” a prominent dissident group released a report alleging Tehran has executed 2,013 Iranians under President Masoud Pezeshkian from January 1 to December 15 this year.

The Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) report states this number more than doubles the 2024 total of 975 executions tallied by the U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, which the U.N. noted was the highest since 2015. The group itself counted 1,001 executions in 2024, a comparable figure.

Per MEK documents shared with Digital, factors driving the rise in executions include Iran’s plummeting currency, factional power struggles, “snapback” U.N. sanctions, and rifts among leaders. The MEK claims this year’s execution count is the highest since the 1980s.

A State Department spokesperson denounced Iran’s ongoing human rights abuses, telling Digital, “We firmly condemn the Iranian regime’s use of execution as a tool of political repression. For decades, the regime has subjected Iranians to torture, forced confessions, and sham trials, leading to unlawful executions. Today, innocent civilians are being made scapegoats for the regime’s military and economic failures.”

The spokesperson added, “The Trump Administration reinstated the maximum pressure policy, ending the Biden Administration’s approach of imposing symbolic sanctions while providing the regime with billions. Since January, we have designated dozens of individuals and more than 180 vessels in Iran’s shadow fleet to drain the regime’s funds.”

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran Program, stated that Washington needs to take additional steps. He told Digital the U.S. has “fallen behind” other Western partners that have responded to Iranian human rights abuses with sanctions and other actions—most recently Canada, which sanctioned four people following a December protest in the Iranian city of Mashhad.

“Failing to implement practical measures to support the Iranian people is a strategic mistake,” Taleblu remarked.

Taleblu pointed out that Iran “arrested over 21,000 people” after the June 12-Day War, along with a ” that is far more extensive than ever before.” He stated the Islamic Republic “knows its weakness,” and any attempts to seem more socially lenient—including on hijab laws—are efforts to “maintain their oligarchic political power in a post-Khamenei Iran.”

Highlighting the previous Trump administration’s tough position on Iran, Taleblu said “it can definitely do better, much more cheaply and efficiently than it realizes.” He noted a “simple” messaging opportunity will arise in March during President Trump’s Nowruz address, when he can “pay tribute to the most pro-American, pro-Israeli population in the core of the Muslim Middle East.”

“Washington’s obligation to support … remains,” Taleblu stated. “But this should be a consistent part of U.S. foreign policy, given the mood of the Iranian public, which is nearly universally opposed to the Iranian state. U.S. human rights policy toward Iran should not be restricted to just having social media accounts that document Iran’s slide into failed statehood.”

The MEK has called on U.S. policymakers to acknowledge the Iranian people’s right to resist and overthrow the regime, which it asserts is the only way to end the country’s theocracy.

On December 10, the European Parliament observed International Human Rights Day by calling for global action against Iran over its execution drive. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, addressed the parliament, expressing concern that Iran is trying to suppress dissent. She insisted “all relations with the regime must be contingent on stopping executions” and that members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence be added “to the terrorist list.”

Among those sentenced to death is Zahra Tabari, a 67-year-old engineer and mother whom the MEK says received her sentence after a “fraudulent 10-minute trial… without her selected legal counsel.” MEK documents indicate Tabari was arrested for holding a banner that read “Woman, Resistance, Freedom.”

The total number of executions in Iran has doubled since October. At that time, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated Iran was killing up to nine prisoners daily, terming it an “unprecedented execution spree.” In response, a hunger strike.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the report.