The Iranian regime has executed at least 43 prisoners between September 30 and October 13, 2026. On September 30 alone, the regime’s judiciary sent 19 prisoners to the gallows, followed by further executions across numerous prisons in the following days.
The latest executions are part of an escalating campaign of repression through which the regime is using capital punishment, arbitrary imprisonment, and judicial persecution to spread fear and suppress dissent amid growing public discontent.
A nationwide wave of executions
The latest wave of executions has spread across numerous prisons in Iran, with prisoners being sent to the gallows in rapid succession.
On September 30 alone, the regime executed 19 prisoners, including four in Tabriz, one in Rafsanjan, one in Gorgan, and two in Sari. Among those executed was a 57-year-old woman. The identities of ten other prisoners executed that day had been disclosed in previous reports.
The executions continued into October. On October 3, a prisoner was executed in Urmia, followed by two more in Shiraz on October 4.
On October 7, five prisoners were executed in Khorramabad, Dezful, Shiraz, Ghezel Hesar, and Kerman. The victims included a 28-year-old prisoner.
The regime carried out another eight executions on October 11, including three prisoners in Rasht, three in Gorgan, one in Shiraz, and one in Bandar Abbas.
On October 12, four more prisoners were executed, including two in Kerman, one in Hamadan, and one in Zahedan. Another prisoner was executed in Minab on October 13.
The geographical spread and rapid succession of these executions demonstrate the nationwide scale of the regime’s killing campaign, which continues unabated despite growing domestic and international condemnation.
Executions involving security-related accusations
Several of the latest executions involved prisoners accused of offenses connected to the deaths of security personnel.
One of the prisoners, Jaber Khosravi, was executed in connection with the death of a police officer in Damghan, while Danial Jahanian and the unidentified prisoner executed in Minab were linked to the deaths of police officers.
Omar Darastaran, executed in Zahedan Prison on October 12, faced accusations of involvement in attacks on police and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facilities in Rask and military installations in Chabahar in April 2024. The regime’s judiciary claimed that 11 security personnel were killed in the Rask attack.
Executions in Iran reach unprecedented levels
The latest killings follow a dramatic escalation in executions over the past year.
Between March 20, 2025, and March 19, 2026, the regime carried out at least 2,657 documented executions, compared with 1,159 in the preceding year—an increase of approximately 130%.
Of these, 1,730 occurred between September 2025 and February 2026, surrounding the nationwide uprising of January 2026. At least 60 women and six people who were minors at the time of their alleged offenses were among those executed.
These figures represent minimum documented totals, given the regime’s systematic concealment of executions.
The sharp escalation demonstrates how the regime has increasingly relied on the death penalty as an instrument of repression against a population demanding fundamental political change.
Political prisoners and systematic human rights violations
The execution campaign has increasingly targeted political prisoners and participants in anti-regime protests.
Between March 19 and October 6, 2026, at least 46 political prisoners were executed, including nine members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and 37 individuals arrested in connection with nationwide uprisings and protests. More than 100 others faced imminent execution in protest-related cases.
The crisis extends far beyond those already executed. Documentation indicates that at least 7,000 prisoners remain under death sentences, while the lack of transparency makes the exact number impossible to determine.
In Ghezel Hesar Prison, 1,500 death-row prisoners participated in two major hunger strikes, in October 2025 and July 2026, protesting the execution crisis.
The international community must end the regime’s impunity
The continuing executions underscore the consequences of decades of impunity for human rights violations in Iran. From the 1988 massacre of political prisoners to the suppression of successive nationwide uprisings, the regime’s leaders have largely escaped accountability.
The international community must take concrete action to halt executions, demand unrestricted access to Iranian prisons for UN investigators, and establish effective mechanisms to investigate crimes against humanity and prosecute those responsible.
Without decisive international action, the regime will continue to regard the international community’s inaction as permission to intensify its repression.