I am deeply concerned by the use of executions to suppress political dissent and human rights activism in Iran.
I am aware of the report by Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty, that has found at least 1,639 people were executed in 2025, a 68% increase from 2024. This is part of a worrying trend, with a drastic year-on-year increase in executions since the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” protests. It regrettably does appear that the conditions of the current war have emboldened the authorities to carry out further executions of political prisoners, protestors and human rights activists, including some of those arrested at the time of the protests and massacres in January. Many executions are not announced by authorities, and many are sentenced after unfair trials and without due process.
Ireland is strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances, and there are many especially troubling aspects to its use in Iran. At the 2025 Universal Periodic Review of Iran at the UN Human Rights Council, Ireland raised the death penalty and highlighted Iran’s use of the death penalty against human rights defenders, especially women. We called for the end of all executions in Iran.
My Department regularly engages with NGOs and human rights organisations that have expressed grave concern for the substantial increase in the use of the death penalty in Iran. This is an extremely troubling development which we are following closely.
Ireland has consistently raised our concerns about Iran’s human rights abuses and use of the death penalty both bilaterally and in multilateral fora such as the Human Rights Council and the United Nations Third Committee on Human Rights. We have consistently called on Iran to ensure full respect for its international human rights obligations. In the circumstances of the current war, unfortunately, opportunities for engagement with the Iranian authorities are very limited.
I have raised our concern for Iran’s use of the death penalty with EU colleagues at the Foreign Affairs Council, and we also do so at official level. Our concerns are widely shared. The EU urges Iranian authorities to pursue a consistent policy towards the abolition of the death penalty altogether. In April it strongly condemned the use of capital punishment as a response to domestic dissent.
