Iran has ramped up executions of political prisoners at nearly three times the rate of the last year, with at least 47 people hung so far in 2026, human rights advocates warn.
Of the more than 370 people executed by the state in the first half of the year, 47 were political prisoners, a steep increase from the 16 hanged by the same time last year, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group.
The IHR accused Tehran of using the war with the US as an excuse to expedite the judicial process and ramp up executions of political prisoners and dissidents across the country.
“With the breakdown of the ceasefire and the resumption of the war, we are deeply concerned that the authorities will exploit the situation to intensify the execution of political prisoners,” IHR Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement Wednesday.
“Hundreds of political prisoners and protesters are currently facing capital charges, and we estimate that around 100 have already been sentenced to death,” he added.
Among those at risk are brothers Fazlollah, 51, and Hadi Nikbakht, 45, who were sentenced to death last month for “corruption on Earth,” according to the IHR.
The brothers were political activists calling for a national referendum to end the Islamic regime, with police arresting the siblings last year and seizing their farmland.
Their other brother, Mohammad, 48, a Christian convert, was also arrested in March and threatened with the death penalty, the IHR said.
Their sister, Niki Nikbakht, fears her brothers could be killed any day by the regime and that Hadi will never get a chance to see his daughter, who was born after he was arrested.
“I keep thinking, what if it really happens? What if I never get to see my two brothers again?” Niki told CNN.
“I keep asking myself: Why is this happening? Why should people face this for wanting freedom? It’s incredibly hard,” she added.
Along with the political prisoners, Iran has continued to crackdown on those who participated in the January protests against the regime.
On Wednesday, Iranian state media announced the hanging of Mohammad Amini Dehaghani, making him the 21 protesters to be executed by Tehran since March 19.
Dehaghani was accused of setting fire to a municipal office building with a Molotov cocktail, inciting a crowd to attack a local police station, and attempting to fire a stolen rifle during the chaotic January 9 protest.
Human rights groups have slammed the trial of protesters and political prisoners as a sham where they are often forced to confess while under police torture.
Footage of Dehaghani’s alleged confession was used as evidence in his trial, where he was sentenced to death for the crime of “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth,” the usual charges for the protesters executed by the Islamic republic.
