Seven Executions Carried Out in Iran

Iran has executed seven individuals convicted of killing members of the security forces and a religious leader. The executions were carried out on Saturday, according to a report by the country’s judicial news agency, Mizan.

Of the seven executed:

• Six individuals were members of an ethnic Arab separatist group from Khorramshahr, located in Iran’s southwest Khuzestan province.
  • They were convicted of armed attacks and bombings targeting security personnel in Khorramshahr.
  • Their execution followed charges of killing four members of the security forces.
• The seventh person, Saman Mohammadi Khiara, belonged to the Kurdish community.
  • He was found guilty of killing a Sunni scholar in Sanandaj, a Kurdish-majority city, in 2009.

Mizan’s report also stated that all seven faced allegations of links with Israel. However, international human rights organisations have criticised Iran for frequently levelling foreign association charges against ethnic minorities, often as part of wider crackdowns on dissenters.

Human rights groups have raised specific concerns regarding Mohammadi Khiara’s execution:

• He was allegedly 15 or 16 years old at the time of the killing.
• Arrested at 19 years old, he was detained for more than a decade before his execution.
• Reports suggest his confession may have been obtained under torture, which formed the basis of his death sentence.

Critics argue that Iranian courts routinely use such methods to determine punishments for defendants, especially in politically or ethnically sensitive cases.

According to Amnesty International:

• Over 1,000 death sentences have been carried out in Iran so far in 2025.
• This marks the highest annual execution rate in the country in the past 15 years.

Human rights organisations continue to condemn Iran’s use of the death penalty, particularly against juveniles and ethnic minorities, highlighting systemic issues of due process and coerced confessions.

Source: AFP