TEHRAN, July 21 — For communities across Asia watching the rule of law in the region, Iran’s use of capital punishment remains stark. According to official and human-rights records, the country executed at least 977 people in 2015, and while numbers dipped in subsequent years, they climbed again sharply—to at least 834 in 2023 and at least 901 in 2024. The United Nations has reported that in 2023, Iran was responsible for 74 percent of all recorded executions worldwide.
Amnesty International put the country’s share at 64 percent in 2024.
Executions by the Numbers
The spike in executions in 2023 included at least 142 people killed in May alone—the highest monthly rate since 2015. At least 30 of those were from the predominantly Sunni Baluchistan region. Iran is believed to execute more people per capita than any other country.
The BBC ranks it second only to China in total executions. Iran’s legal system permits the death penalty for a sweeping range of offenses: murder, rape, drug trafficking, armed robbery, terrorism, apostasy, blasphemy, “waging war against God,” “spreading corruption on Earth,” and political dissidence, among many others.
The laws are created by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, verified by the Guardian Council, and signed by the president, and they must be consistent with Sharia. Criminal courts of first instance try serious crimes and can issue death sentences.
Government Denials and a Drug War Argument
Iranian officials have pushed back against the numbers cited by human-rights groups, calling them “exaggerated.” They maintain that executions follow “a lengthy judicial process” and frame the high execution rate as part of a “large-scale drug war along its eastern borders.” That explanation, however, does little to reassure families across the region who see the sheer volume of state killings—the government acknowledges none of the additional context that human-rights monitors include, such as the lack of fair trials for political prisoners.
For communities in Asia—from Southeast Asia to South Asia—Iran’s execution record carries a broader significance. The country’s use of the death penalty for non-violent crimes, including drug offenses and “moral” crimes like fornication or homosexuality, stands in contrast to the growing global trend toward abolition or at least moratorium.
Many Asian nations are themselves debating the role of capital punishment in their own legal systems, and Iran’s position as a leading practitioner provides a reference point that human-rights advocates use—and that governments reluctant to change sometimes cite. As of mid-2026, with the United Nations and Amnesty International continuing to document the numbers, there is no sign that Iran intends to slow its use of the death penalty.
For families watching from across the region, the steady drumbeat of executions remains a sobering reminder of how far the gap between stated legal procedure and lived reality can be.
