Iran executed at least 71 people in July, including six protesters, according to Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based monitoring group, which said it documented at least 444 executions from January 1 through July 31, while only 67 of those cases were announced by Iranian authorities.
This information emerges as international attention has focused on Iran’s military confrontation with the United States and Israel, leaving arrests, death sentences and alleged abuses inside the country less visible, rights advocates say. The organization said another 377 cases were independently verified through two sources, while reports of more than 400 additional executions have not been included because they could not yet be verified.
The figures present a parallel picture of Iran at a moment when international attention has overwhelmingly centered on military operations, the confrontation with the United States and Israel, the Strait of Hormuz, and the economic consequences of the conflict.
Inside the country, however, the machinery of capital punishment has continued.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of Iran Human Rights, said executions have returned to an almost daily pace. “So, it seems that we are going back to the way it used to be, that we have daily executions. Most of them are for charges such as drug trafficking or murder. But the execution of protesters also continues,” he told The Media Line.
So, it seems that we are going back to the way it used to be, that we have daily executions
“Last month, we had six protesters who were executed. We know that there are many more on death row now. In one of the prisons in Isfahan, we have identified at least 70 people who are going to be executed,” he added.
Of the 71 executions recorded in July, the organization said 36 concerned murder charges, 26 drug-related offenses, eight security-related charges and one rape charge. During the first seven months of 2026, IHR documented the executions of 28 protesters—26 connected to the January 2026 protests and two to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. It also recorded the executions of 13 political prisoners affiliated with banned opposition groups, and 12 people accused of espionage.
In total, 63 of the executions documented during the period involved national-security charges.
Iranian authorities describe such executions as lawful punishment for security-related crimes and have said swift enforcement of sentences is necessary to deter unrest.
The death penalty extends far beyond political cases. According to IHR, 227 people were executed after receiving qisas, or retribution-in-kind, sentences for murder, while 143 were executed for drug-related offenses. Twelve women, 17 foreign nationals, and at least 80 members of ethnic minorities were among those executed.
Only two of the 444 documented executions were carried out publicly.
For an anonymous source currently inside Iran, the continuation of executions itself is not regarded as something new. The deeper frustration, the source said, comes from the perception that what is happening inside the country is widely known but increasingly absent from the international conversation.
“Unjust executions without a fair trial have always been happening here. That’s not the shocking part to us. What we hate the most is that now almost everybody knows what’s going on in Iran—the crimes committed by the Islamic Republic. Every politician and news outlet is well aware [of] this, but they pretend it doesn’t exist because it doesn’t align with their interests. We don’t expect much from these people—the least is transparency,” the source told The Media Line.
The silence of the media is nothing new to us, but it’s definitely heartbreaking
“The silence of the media is nothing new to us, but it’s definitely heartbreaking,” the source added.
That loss of attention is also central to Amiry-Moghaddam’s assessment of the current moment. “So, of course the media, they go for the hottest news, and right now it’s war. This is one of the reasons why the Islamic Republic actually prefers the current situation, because everything else comes under the shadow of the war,” he noted.
He argues that international priorities have moved toward containing the conflict and preserving regional economic stability. “They prefer to have at least some level of tension with the United States because that takes all the attention. For Western countries, the highest priority is not the human rights situation of Iranian people. Right now, it is that the Strait of Hormuz is open, that the oil prices and gas prices are not increased anymore, that there is stability,” he said.
The effect of the war inside Iran is more complicated than a simple weakening of the state.
According to Amiry-Moghaddam, the authorities have been able to mobilize supporters during the conflict, while the structural problems that have repeatedly fueled discontent—inflation, shortages and economic mismanagement—remain unresolved.
“I would say that compared to the time before the war, probably the regime is in a better shape. However, they are not capable of solving people’s daily problems. There is still mismanagement in the whole country,” he said, highlighting electricity and water shortages alongside inflation. “Sooner or later, there will be new protests.”
At the same time, the conflict appears to have changed the immediate priorities of some Iranians. “Maybe seven months ago, they had much more hope of regime change. Now, it seems that because of the war, they are much more preoccupied with their life situation not getting any worse. But it is getting worse, unfortunately,” Amiry-Moghaddam said.
The anonymous source inside Iran described the continuing uncertainty in more restrained terms. “The weight of the ongoing uncertainty over the conflict, well it’s the same as before. Nothing has changed,” he said.
But executions are only one component of the domestic picture.
Amiry-Moghaddam also described widespread arrests since the beginning of the conflict and warned that national-security legislation has expanded the authorities’ ability to impose severe sentences over alleged cooperation with organizations or media outside Iran.
“There are always arrests, but there is a new law that was passed last year during the fall, after the 12-day war last summer. It gives the authorities much more opportunity to give harsh sentences to people. For example, if someone has a video or messages sending to Farsi media outside the country, they can even be sentenced to death,” he said.
According to Amiry-Moghaddam, the scale extends well beyond individual cases. “Inside the prisons there are thousands who have been arrested since the war began. And as I mentioned, we think hundreds are sentenced to death. Many of them are subjected to torture.”
What I’m concerned about is that as these military operations continue, the regime will use it even more to justify more arrests
“What I’m concerned about is that as these military operations continue, the regime will use it even more to justify more arrests, more harsh sentences, more executions under the pretext of national security,” he said.
Those estimates of arrests, death sentences and alleged torture come from Amiry-Moghaddam’s own account and are distinct from IHR’s independently documented execution statistics.
For him, the significance of capital punishment also goes beyond the individual prisoners who ultimately face execution. He argues that repeated executions create a broader climate of intimidation capable of affecting political activity and freedom of expression even among people who have never been detained. “I think we should not underestimate the importance of the executions for the regime. … Just seven months ago, people used to post on their social media channels; they were not so afraid,” he said.
“Now, I think, especially because of all these executions that they hear about every single day, we see the impact of the death penalty on the freedom of speech, on basically everything people do,” he asserted.
The contrast with previous waves of international attention is particularly significant.
The death of Mahsa Amini in custody in 2022 and the subsequent “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests generated demonstrations and widespread solidarity internationally. Amiry-Moghaddam says that level of public attention has not been replicated during the current period. “When we compare a situation with the time after the Women. Life. Freedom. Movement, we see that also the public opinion and the solidarity that the Iranian people used to have during that movement is not there anymore.”
He does not attribute the shift exclusively to Western governments or media. Part of the problem, he argues, stems from within the Iranian opposition, which is increasingly divided over the war and how foreign military intervention should be viewed. “And you probably have seen Iranians going out with the American flag, Israeli flag, and I don’t think it has a positive impact on the public opinion in Europe,” he said.
Amiry-Moghaddam was also explicit in separating opposition to the Islamic Republic from support for bombing Iran. “I don’t think it is morally right either. Although I understand it’s because of desperation, we cannot express happiness because Iran is being bombed. These past few months have been very strange.”
That distinction sits at the center of the human rights dilemma created by the current conflict. Military pressure on Tehran has not stopped executions or arrests. According to Amiry-Moghaddam, it may instead give authorities another justification for repression while shifting international scrutiny toward military and economic priorities.
His argument is therefore that human rights must return to the diplomatic agenda independently of how the military confrontation develops. He sees Europe’s potential role not as determining Iran’s political future but as increasing the external consequences of domestic repression.
“The change in the system, that must come from inside by the Iranian people, but what Europe can do is to raise the political cost of the repression, the executions, and that’s what we are hoping. The rest, I think, Iranian people will do,” he noted.
The change in the system, that must come from inside by the Iranian people, but what Europe can do is to raise the political cost of the repression
For now, however, the contrast is growing sharper.
Iran’s military confrontation has become an international security story. Inside the country, according to IHR and the accounts provided for this article, executions and arrests have continued alongside it—while receiving considerably less attention than the conflict surrounding them.
For Amiry-Moghaddam, that also explains why war should not automatically be interpreted as a pathway to change inside Iran. “We really should hope that the war ends, because this is an asymmetric war, and this is the expertise of the Iranian regime. That’s what they are good at. They do whatever it takes to hold on to power,” he said.
“The regime must answer to people why their daily issues are not solved, why do they have a shortage of everything, basically. I haven’t given up the hope for a change, but I think that the war is not helping it,” he concluded.
