The UN urges Iran to stop using the death penalty and points out that there has been a "disturbing increase in the number of executions" this year.
According to information collected by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 612 people were executed during the first half of 2025. This is more than twice as many as were executed during the same period last year.
"Reports that several hundred executions have taken place in Iran so far this year underscore how deeply disturbing the situation has become and the urgent need for an immediate halt to the use of the death penalty in the country," says the UN's human rights chief Volker Turk in a statement.
Iran defends its use of the death penalty and says it is only applied to the most serious crimes.
The death penalty is recognized under Iran's national laws for a range of the most serious crimes, says the Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei.
He adds that Tehran "seeks to limit the use of this penalty to only the most serious crimes".
On Sunday, two men linked to the political organization People's Mujahedin were executed, the country's state news agency reported.
Iran is the country in the world that carries out the most executions, after China, according to Amnesty International. Usually, it is done by hanging at dawn.
