Hundreds of Iranian activists have condemned Tehran’s alarming use of the death penalty after a coalition of dissident groups reported the hangings of 280 people, including children, in October alone. This record number is twice as many as during the same period in 2023, marking a death toll not seen in three decades.
Among those executed in October were 36 women and six children, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) noted. Furthermore, from March to October this year, a staggering 1,135 people were executed by Tehran.
The Islamic Republic is “turning executions into a tool of control and repression with unprecedented intensity,” read a statement released by 800 Iranian activists on Friday, including political prisoners. The uptick in executions evidences the “moral and legal collapse of the judiciary and its blatant disregard for human dignity,” the statement added.
The October body count represents one hanging every two and a half hours, according to the NCRI.
“The scale of these criminal executions, especially in the 21st century when most countries have abolished the death penalty, wounds the conscience of contemporary humanity,” condemned Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the coalition. “With this unprecedented bloodshed and the creation of an atmosphere of terror, Khamenei is futilely trying to prevent the formation of a popular uprising,” she added, referring to the regime’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Human rights groups have sounded the alarm in recent months over the silencing of dissent and the rise in executions amid mounting civilian frustration caused by skyrocketing inflation and shortages of basic goods like energy and water.
In another significant development, Iran declared one of its largest private banks, Ayandeh Bank, bankrupt on Friday, seizing its assets after the bank accumulated $2.9 billion in debt. On Saturday, scores of panicked customers were seen lining up outside branches.
Meanwhile, the United Nations recently reimposed “snapback” economic sanctions on Tehran after its nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), found in June that Iran was violating the 2015 nuclear non-proliferation pact.
Amnesty International urged the international community to intervene earlier this month, stating that many executions followed “grossly unfair trials held behind closed doors, amid widespread patterns of torture and forced confessions.”
“UN Member states must confront the Iranian authorities’ shocking execution spree with the urgency it demands,” the organization said in a statement. Amnesty International estimates that more than 1,000 executions have occurred in Iran this year alone.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/25/world-news/hundreds-of-activists-condemn-irans-brutal-rise-in-executions-as-record-280-people-are-hanged-in-october-unprecedented-intensity/
