Media: Iran executes dozens as families face pressure to stay silent

Iran is carrying out near-daily executions in secrecy, with authorities in some cases refusing to return the bodies of those executed to their families, according to rights groups and sources close to victims’ relatives, cited by The Guardian.

Families are often informed only after executions have taken place and are reportedly subjected to pressure and harassment to remain silent about the killings and their impact.

At least 24 people have been executed since March, including six over two days, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO). The surge has heightened fears for hundreds of detainees, including those arrested during anti-government protests and individuals accused of espionage during the war with the US and Israel.

Iran is believed to have executed at least 1,600 people in 2025, according to the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, citing local groups.

Among those recently executed were protester Mehrab Abdollahzadeh and Kurdish prisoners Nasser Bakerzadeh and Yaghoub Karimpour, who were held in Urmia central prison. Rights groups say the men were subjected to torture and forced confessions.

“They take them to undisclosed locations, execute them and do not inform the families,” said Rebin Rahmani of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network. “When families go to the prison, they are prevented from receiving the bodies.”

In a voice message before his execution, Abdollahzadeh said: “They are mentally and physically torturing me,” adding he had endured 38 days of abuse to extract a confession.

Bakerzadeh wrote in a letter: “The death sentence has killed me, shattered me. Every moment I see my own death before me… Today it is my turn. Tomorrow it will be someone else’s.”

Families describe ongoing trauma. A relative of executed teenager Saleh Mohammadi said: “These actions have multiplied our suffering and intensified our sense of insecurity… I have nightmares every night.”

Rights groups warn the pace of executions is accelerating under the cover of war. “Many detainees have been subjected to physical and psychological torture to extract confessions,” said IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “We are deeply concerned that hundreds may face charges punishable by death.”

By Tamilla Hasanova