In circumstances where Iranian society is witnessing successive protests, the increase in executions is interpreted as a tool for intimidation and silencing the voice of change.
The Iran Human Rights Society reported on Thursday, December 3, 2025, that twenty-five prisoners, including one woman, were executed across the prisons of Sabzevar, Bam, Kangan, Gorgan, Bandar Abbas, Gonabad, Rajai Shahr Karaj, Mashhad, Rasht, Semnan, Isfahan, Dorud, Mahabad, Borujerd, and Zahedan. These executions took place between Sunday, November 30, and Thursday, December 3, 2025.
On December 3, those executed included Pirvali Shabani (Sabzevar), Keyvan Shahbakhsh (Bam), an unidentified prisoner under investigation (Kangan), Ali Kalhor (Gorgan), Yousef Jamshidi (Bandar Abbas), Safa Jozipour (Gonabad), Amir Emami (Rajai Shahr Karaj), Hessam Norouzi and an unspecified woman (Vakilabad Mashhad), Mehdi Javanmardi (Lakan Rasht), and Iman Mortezaei and Aboufeiz Davoudi (Semnan).
On December 2, five additional prisoners were executed: Mahmoud Nouri, Hossein Shafiezadeh, and Gholamreza Bahrami in Semnan Prison, along with Shamal Mohammad Rashid and Ardealan Hossein Ali in Dastgerd Isfahan Prison.
Executions on December 1 included Abdollah Borahouei (Seyyed Ali) and Mehrdad Espid at Dastgerd Isfahan Prison, Hossein Zamani in Dorud Prison, and Ebrahim Tabrizi in Mahabad Prison.
The series began on November 30, with the executions of Sepehr Goodarzi in Borujerd Prison and Parviz Rigi in Zahedan Prison.
The Death Penalty’s Incompatibility with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 3 of this declaration explicitly states: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. This right shall be protected by rule of law and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their life.
The death penalty, as the highest punishment, is in direct conflict with this article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because:
Right to Life: The right to life is raised as a fundamental and non-derogable right. The death penalty deprives this right.
Irreversibility: In the event of the execution of the death penalty, there is no possibility of remedying judicial error.
Torture and Inhumane Treatment: Some methods of executing the death penalty are considered torture and inhumane treatment, which itself is contrary to the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Violation of Human Rights Commitments Regarding the Death Penalty
According to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Iran is a signatory, the imposition and execution of the death penalty is only permitted in the presence of full safeguards for a fair trial and in the most serious crimes. In many similar cases, lack of transparency, legal restrictions on the accused, and issuance of sentences in courts lacking necessary independence are considered contrary to this fundamental human rights principle.