Iran executed 975 people in 2024, a notable uptick from 2023 and the highest figure recorded since 2008.

According to a joint report released Thursday, France’s Together Against the Death Penalty and Norwegian think tank Iran Human Rights found that the Islamic Republic notably increased the number of executions it carried out last year in what the organizations call a “horrifying escalation.”

The 975 prisoner executions recorded in 2024 constitute a 17% increase from the 834 recorded in 2023. The organizations say that the increase was likely due to Iran’s conflict with Israel.

“These executions are part of the Islamic Republic’s war against its own people to maintain its grip on power,” IHR Director Mahmood Miry-Moghaddam said of the report. “Five people were executed on average every single day in the last three months of the year as the threat of war between Iran and Israel escalated.”

Capital punishment is a somewhat popular form of deterrence against resistance in Iran and has remained a key function of the Islamic country’s law enforcement system. Many executions are carried out through hanging, either in public or in prison yards.

Crimes punishable by death include murder and rape, but also vaguely defined crimes such as “corruption” and “rebellion.” The organization says that executions for the crimes of corruption and rebellion have seen an uptick in the last few years in the aftermath of the nationwide protests that shocked Iran.

Thousands of people took to the streets for weeks in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for failing to adhere to Iran’s modesty code. At least two of the executions in  2024 were connected to the 2022 protests.

According to IHR, the Islamic Republic has carried out 121 executions in the first two months of 2025.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.