Iran executed over 900 people in 2024, including dozens of women - UN
Iran executed 901 people in 2024, including 31 women, marking a rise in capital punishment cases, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.
Iran executed 901 people in 2024, including 31 women, marking a rise in capital punishment cases, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.
Most executions were for drug-related offenses, but political dissidents and individuals linked to the 2022 protests—sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in morality police custody—were also among those executed, the UN said.
"It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year-on-year," said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. "It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions."
The 901 executions in 2024, compared with 853 in 2023, represent the highest annual number since 2015, when 972 people were executed, according to the UN.
Of the 31 women executed last year, many faced charges of murder, often stemming from circumstances of domestic violence, child marriage, or forced marriage, said UN rights office spokesperson Liz Throssell during a Geneva briefing Tuesday. She added that this was the highest number of female executions in at least 15 years.
Since the start of 2025, Iran has executed at least 15 prisoners in various prisons, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on January 2.
At least 54 political prisoners are currently facing execution across various prisons in Iran, according to HRANA.
The gathering, set to take place at Villa Madama, will include US secretary of state Antony Blinken and representatives of the four European counterparts in the informal coalition known as 'Quint'; France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Tajani will discuss urgent issues such as the recent arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala who travelled to Iran on December 13 with a journalist visa and was detained in Iran on December 19.
Iranian authorities cited “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran” as the reason for her arrest, but have not released details of the charges.
However, a source familiar with discussions between Sala's family and the Italian government told Iran International that Tehran made clear to Rome that Sala's freedom depends on Italy's release of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, an Iranian arrested at Washington's behest.
Iran has denied any link between Sala’s arrest and Abedini’s detention, with government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani saying on Tuesday that it "is in no way a retaliation."
Italian media reported Monday that following a meeting between Meloni and Trump, the incoming US premier has agreed to temporarily suspend Abedini's extradition.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini praised the diplomatic efforts. In a post on X he said: “Well done Giorgia Meloni for visiting US President-elect Donald Trump to talk about peace, industrial and commercial cooperation, security, and the freeing of Cecilia Sala.”
In a bid to pressure the government, the Italian foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador in Rome, Mohammadreza Sabouri, on January 2 to demand her immediate release.
Italy now has a brief window to negotiate the journalist's release. Italian newspaper Il Giornale noted January 15 could be pivotal, as Milan's Court of Appeal rules on house arrest for Abedini, potentially enabling Italy to push for the same for Sala.
Rights groups have condemned Sala’s arrest, with the Lazio Journalists' Guild and the Rome Press Association organizing a protest on Tuesday to demand her immediate release.
