Iran appears to be using executions “as a tool of state intimidation,” the United Nations said Monday, as it denounced a jump in capital punishment globally in 2025. The Islamic Republic reportedly executed 1,500 people last year, UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement. “The scale and pace of executions suggest a systematic use of capital punishment as a tool of state intimidation, with disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities and migrants,” he warned. The spike in executions in Iran — which, according to rights groups, is the world’s most prolific executioner after China — had contributed to “an alarming increase” in the use of capital punishment worldwide last year, Turk said.

Full report : UN Rights chief decries ‘systematic use’ of death penalty that reportedly killed 1,500 in Iran last year, pans proposed Israeli law on mandatory sentences for terrorists.