UN Rights Chief Alarmed by Iran Execution Surge

Volker Türk reported that at least 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges since 19 March, including 27 linked to January's nationwide anti-government protests. He added that more than 100 others face execution on similar charges, while drug-related executions continue at an alarming rate. Türk urged Iranian authorities to halt all executions and move toward abolishing the death penalty, noting a persistent lack of fair trial guarantees, with confessions allegedly obtained under torture and some executions carried out in public or weeks after arrest.

Iran, the world's second-most prolific executioner after China, put at least 2,159 people to death last year, the highest figure since 1981, according to Amnesty International. The Iranian government did not immediately comment but has previously defended the death penalty as limited to the most severe crimes. On Monday, Iran's judiciary said it executed two men, Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, convicted of spying for Israel.