Iran Executes 29 Protesters in Five-Month Campaign

Iran executed at least 29 people in connection with recent protests over a five-month period. According to a joint report from Human Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, the executions between March 18 and the end of August 2026 were unlawful and violated international law.

Several of those executed were teenagers aged 18 or 19. Scores of other protesters and political dissidents remain at imminent risk of execution. Five of the executions were carried out in public, a tactic described by the rights groups as intended to instill fear.

Unfair Trials and Vague Charges

Executions followed grossly unfair and summary proceedings. In protest-related cases, the time from arrest to execution ranged from just over five weeks to less than eight months. The vast majority were executed within six months of arrest, denying them adequate time to prepare a defense.

In 16 of the 29 documented cases, the capital charges did not involve any allegations of killing. Instead, protesters were convicted on vague national security charges for acts such as allegedly damaging public property, throwing stones, or breaking into government buildings. Young protesters have been executed for allegedly setting fire to buildings, making Molotov cocktails, and destroying public buildings.

"Day after day, Iran’s authorities are sending protesters, including teenagers, to the gallows based on torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and following grossly unfair proceedings," said Bahar Saba, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Weaponizing New Laws

Authorities have use a 2025 law to expedite death sentences. At least eight protesters were convicted under a vaguely worded espionage law titled "Intensifying Punishments for Spies and Collaborators with the Zionist Regime and Hostile States." The charge used was "operational action on behalf of hostile states."

Roya Boroumand, executive director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, stated the law has become "a fast-tracked mechanism for sentencing protesters to death without evidence of espionage." The law was originally introduced after the nationwide protests of late 2019 and early 2020.

In at least 10 other cases, the state raised allegations of involvement in killings but did not charge defendants with murder. They were solely convicted of vaguely worded crimes like "waging war against God" and "corruption on earth."

Systematic Abuses and Intimidation

The organizations documented patterns of severe due process violations. These include denial of access to independent legal counsel and torture and ill-treatment, including beatings, mock executions, and threats of rape. Courts systematically used confessions extracted under torture as evidence.

A climate of fear has been exacerbated by state actions. A July 2026 directive from the Ministry of Intelligence designated hundreds of media outlets, human rights organizations, and activists as "enemies," criminalizing any contact with them. This forces relatives of victims to remain silent.

Authorities have also systematically vilified executed protesters, labelling them as the "ground troops of a US-Israeli coup." Opposition to the executions is itself treated as criminal conduct, with Tehran's prosecutor announcing criminal cases against several people who expressed opposition in July 2026.

Scale of the Crisis

The number of individuals at risk is believed to be high. Various organizations have published lists of those sentenced or at risk.

Many cases go unreported due to internet shutdowns and fear of reprisals. This execution campaign is part of a broader surge. The Boroumand Center recorded at least 2,113 executions in Iran in 2025, the highest annual number since the late 1980s. Human Rights Watch and the Boroumand Center oppose the death penalty in all cases as a cruel and inhuman punishment.