DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran executed six death-row inmates on Saturday, claiming that they carried out attacks in the country's oil-rich southwest on behalf of Israel. This marks the latest incident in a significant wave of executions in Iran, reported to be the highest in decades.
The executions came on the heels of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, which concluded with Tehran pledging to target its enemies both domestically and internationally. Human rights activists have warned that Iran often relies on coerced confessions and closed-door trials when dealing with death penalty cases, particularly those linked to Israel.
According to Iranian authorities, the individuals executed were responsible for killing police officers and security forces, as well as orchestrating bombings aimed at various sites in Khorramshahr, located in Khuzestan province. Iranian state television even aired footage featuring one of the inmates discussing the attacks, announcing that it was the first time these details were disclosed to the public.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a Kurdish group, reported the executions and identified the men as "Arab political prisoners" who had been detained during protests in 2019. Iran has accused them of having connections to the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, a group known for its past assaults on oil pipelines and other targets in southwestern Iran.
Hengaw further claims that the six men faced severe torture and were coerced into making televised "confessions" under duress. The Arab population in Khuzestan has a long-standing grievance concerning discrimination by Iran's central government, and the region has been embroiled in numerous protests over recent years, similar to movements across Iran.
In a separate incident on the same day, Iran executed another inmate accused of killing a Sunni cleric in 2009 in Kurdistan province, along with other alleged crimes. The pace of executions in Iran has accelerated in response to the protests and the recent conflict with Israel, reaching levels not seen since 1988, when thousands were executed at the close of the Iran-Iraq war.
Organizations such as Iran Human Rights, based in Oslo, and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran have reported that over 1,000 executions took place in 2025 alone. They caution that the actual figure could be even higher, as the Iranian government does not provide comprehensive data on every execution.
Furthermore, independent human rights experts from the United Nations have raised their concerns regarding Iran's escalating use of capital punishment. This situation highlights the ongoing issues surrounding human rights and the treatment of prisoners in Iran, as well as the broader political tensions in the region.
