Iran denies report alleging secret executions of thousands of protesters

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has rejected claims that Tehran secretly executed thousands of detainees amid ongoing anti-government protests, dismissing a report by Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom as politically motivated.

In a post on X, Araghchi said: "No executions have taken place, no court process has been concluded, and more than 2,000 prisoners have been pardoned."

The denial came in response to an Israel Hayom article published on February 11, which cited Western intelligence agencies – including Israel's Mossad, as well as British and German services – as believing Iran had carried out thousands of hidden executions despite assurances given to the United States.

"Before buying the narrative being peddled, consider who benefits from it—and who may actually be doing the deceiving," the Foreign Minister wrote.

The report alleged that, rather than conducting public hangings of protesters arrested in city squares, authorities had shot or strangled detainees in custody and concealed the deaths by informing families that the individuals had been killed during the protests themselves – even when evidence showed they had been taken alive.

The claims emerge against the backdrop of widespread unrest in Iran, with mass anti-regime protests continuing for weeks and reports of significant casualties during their suppression.

On Sunday, Iran's judiciary chief stated that those detained in connection with the protests would be excluded from the annual pardons traditionally issued to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which often include sentence reductions or releases for selected prisoners.

By Aghakazim Guliyev