NGO reports surge in executions in Iran as two women are hanged

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Iran intensifies use of capital punishment, hangs at least seven people including two women

Iran has come under fire for its recent surge in executions, with at least seven people, including two women, being hanged in the past few days. The Islamic republic has been criticized for its use of capital punishment, with human rights organizations calling it a means to instill fear in the population.

Among those executed were Parvin Mousavi, a 53-year-old mother of two, who was hanged in Urmia prison in northwestern Iran. She was convicted in a drug-related case. In Nishapur, a 27-year-old woman named Fatemeh Abdullahi was hanged on charges of murdering her husband, who was also her cousin.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) has reported at least 223 executions this year, with 50 in May alone. The surge in executions began after the end of Persian New Year and Ramadan holidays in April, with 115 people, including six women, being hanged since then.

Iran has been criticized for carrying out more executions of women than any other country. Activists argue that many of these women are victims of forced or abusive marriages. The use of capital punishment has been on the rise in Iran, with more hangings recorded last year than in any year since 2015.

“The silence of the international community is unacceptable,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “Those executed belong to the poor and marginalized groups of Iranian society and didn’t have fair trials with due process.”

The group also highlighted the case of Arvin Ghahremani, a member of Iran’s Jewish community, who is at imminent risk of execution over a murder charge. His family is seeking to ask the victim’s family to forgo the execution in line with Iran’s Islamic law of retribution.

Another individual at risk of execution is Kamran Sheikheh, the last surviving member of a group of seven Iranian Kurdish men who were sentenced to death for alleged membership of extremist groups. Six men convicted in the same case have been executed in recent months.

There has been international outcry over the death sentence handed out to Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, seen as retaliation for his music backing the 2022 protests. His lawyers are currently appealing the verdict.

The use of capital punishment in Iran continues to draw condemnation from human rights organizations and the international community. The surge in executions, particularly of women and minority groups, has raised concerns about the fairness of trials and the lack of due process in the country’s judicial system.