ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran has executed more than 1,000 prisoners since the beginning of the year, with 400 hangings since the Iran-Israel war alone, a human rights watchdog reported on Monday, the highest surge recorded in two decades. 

“At least 1,002 prisoners were executed in Iran during the first nine months of 2025,” the Oslo-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said, adding that “404 of these executions took place after the start of the Israel–Iran war.”

The hangings represent “a 40 percent rise in executions since the start of that conflict, marking the highest surge in two decades,” according to the watchdog. “Never before have executions surpassed 1,000 in such a short period.”

Among the executed individuals are 33 political detainees and 148 Kurdish prisoners, the watchdog noted, asserting that only “about five percent” of cases were reported by state media.

Despite making up only around 12.5 percent of Iran’s population, Kurds make up 15 percent of the total execution cases in Iran. The charges are often politically and ideologically motivated.

Following the crackdown on the Women Life Freedom (Jin Jyan Azadi) protests in September 2022 and the 12 Day War with Israel in June, Iran intensified the arrest and execution of individuals on charges of espionage, treason, and posing a threat to national security.

According to an Amnesty International report, Iran made up 64 percent of global executions in 2024, with UN data putting it at around 975 people, the highest number recorded at the time since 2015. 

This year’s data has surpassed 2024’s total with over three months left.