Since July 8, 2024, when assumed office, Iran has executed 1,051 people, a fact that security experts believe the U.S. must consider as nuclear talks with Tehran resume.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) told Digital that this figure is a more than 20% increase compared to the number of Iranians executed in 2023.
During his presidential campaign, Pezeshkian aligned himself with moderates and reformists who were critical of the regime following Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022 and the ensuing protests.
In a televised debate shortly before his election victory, which saw record-low voter turnout, he , “We are losing our societal support due to our behavior, high prices, our treatment of girls, and internet censorship.”
He further stated, “People are unhappy with us because of our behavior,” raising hopes that Pezeshkian, who has also expressed interest in engaging with the U.S. in nuclear talks, might bring about some of the reforms Iranians have long desired from the oppressive regime.
However, executions have increased, targeting those arrested for drug-related offenses, dissent, and involvement in the 2022 protests, including a rise in the killings of women and individuals who were minors at the time of their alleged crimes.
The NCRI said in a statement on Monday, “Such levels of savagery and brutality reflect the deadly deadlock in which the ruling religious fascism in Iran is trapped.” The statement continued, “[Supreme Leader of Iran Ali] Khamenei is desperately trying to prevent a nationwide uprising and the inevitable overthrow of his regime through executions and killings.”
Amnesty International that girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 can be sentenced to death.
The organization added, “At least 73 young offenders were executed between 2005 and 2015. And the authorities show no sign of stopping this horrific practice,” also referencing U.N. reports of at least 160 people on death row for crimes committed before the age of 18, while also noting that the actual number is likely higher.
These human rights violations occur as the U.S. seeks with Tehran, prompting officials to urge the international community to consider Iran’s history of abuse during negotiations with the regime.
Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the NCRI, has “urged the international community to make all dealings with the regime contingent on the end of torture and executions, refer Iran’s human rights violations file to the U.N. Security Council, and, as requested by the U.N. special rapporteur in the July 2024 report, bring Ali Khamenei and other regime leaders to justice for crimes against humanity and genocide.”
In a statement to Digital, she said, “After suffering irreparable setbacks in the region and facing the growing threat of an uprising and overthrow, the regime has brutally accelerated executions and massacres.”
She has also called on the Iranian people, “especially the youth,” to protest the executions by joining the “No to Execution” movement.
However, students across Iran in opposing the regime, as Pezeshkian and Iran’s minister of education, Alireza Kazemi, have reportedly deployed State Security Forces to suppress what Khamenei has called “cultural infiltration, the enemy’s lifestyle, and hostile temptations” targeting Iran’s youth.