Prince Reza Pahlavi: On World Day Against the Death Penalty, All Eyes Should Be on the Islamic Republic

On October 10, which is designated as World Day Against the Death Penalty, Prince Reza Pahlavi emphasized that all eyes should be on the Islamic Republic. In a post on social media platform X, he wrote: "On World Day Against the Death Penalty, all eyes should be on the Islamic Republic because this regime, as part of Khamenei's war against the people of Iran, executes hundreds of individuals annually, including children and political prisoners, without due process, and has the highest execution rate in the world." The Human Rights Activists Collective and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran noted on Tuesday, October 17, that at least 811 executions had been recorded by the Islamic Republic in the past year: "From October 2023 to October 2024, the Iranian government has executed at least 811 Iranians and has also recorded the highest number of executions of women in the past decade, with 23 women executed during this period." According to the reports from these two human rights organizations, over 75% of all recorded executions worldwide in 2023 were attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, previously called for an end to the issuance and execution of death sentences in the Islamic Republic in a video message on the occasion of "World Day Against the Death Penalty." He identified one of the main concerns as the "targeted use" of the death penalty by the Iranian government against women activists and supporters of the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini while in custody of the morality police in September 2022. Reports indicate the execution of at least 5 prisoners in Shiraz and Urmia on World Day Against the Death Penalty, and the UN Special Rapporteur reiterated that the death penalty in Iran must end. Additionally, 11 prisoners were executed in Qezel Hessar on the eve of World Day Against the Death Penalty. A joint statement from the Human Rights Activists Collective and the Boroumand Foundation noted that a decade-long record of executions in Iran has been broken.