Iran Executed at Least 975 People in 2024, Marking a 17% Rise from the Previous Year

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Iran carried out nearly 1,000 executions last year, marking what human rights organizations have condemned as a “horrifying escalation” in the use of capital punishment, according to a U.N. human rights watchdog group.

Iran executed 975 people in 2024, a 17% increase from the 834 executions recorded in 2023, according to a report issued by the U.N. Human Rights Office.

Among the 975 executed, 31 were women—the highest in nearly 20 years—and four were publicly hanged. The report also highlighted the highest execution count in almost a decade.

The U.N. report revealed that Iran carried out approximately 40 executions within a single week in December 2024.

Iran reportedly executed nearly 90 people in August 2024 following the presidential election, including individuals sentenced to death on political and security-related charges.

A U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson said the figures were compiled using data from groups like Iran’s Human Rights Activists News Agency, Iran Human Rights, and the Kurdish rights group Hengaw.

Amnesty International reports that Iran carried out nearly 75% of all recorded executions worldwide in 2023. However, the group notes that the data excludes China, where thousands are believed to be executed annually under a classified system.

Meanwhile, despite centuries of persecution, the number of Iranian Christians has surged over the last 20 years, surpassing the growth seen in the previous 13 centuries since Islam arrived in Iran. From an estimated 500 in 1979, today, hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of Iranians are embracing Christianity and acknowledging Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

In 2023, George Whitten, the founder of Worthy News, interviewed a leading house church pastor in Iran, inquiring about the rapid growth of the revival there. The pastor explained, “We do not baptize anyone unless they are willing to post their baptism on YouTube,” highlighting their commitment by adding, “We are all in for the gospel’s sake.”

In 2023, a senior Iranian cleric revealed that about 50,000 of Iran’s 75,000 mosques are closed, highlighting the rapid growth of Christianity and disillusionment with “the regime’s use of Islam to justify its authoritarian rule.”

In 2025, Open Doors listed Iran as the ninth worst country for Christian persecution, highlighting the severe risks and ongoing challenges Christians face there due to the Iranian regime’s control of the country.

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