OrganisationNO
Iran Human Rights
Oslo-based NGO documenting Iranian executions and political persecution since 2007.
Last refreshed: 14 May 2026 · Appears in 3 active topics
Key Question
Iran is executing protest prisoners during a 60-day blackout: how is Iran Human Rights still counting?
Timeline for Iran Human Rights
#9713 May
#9713 May
#939 May
Mentioned in: New Israel-linked moharebeh charge in Mashhad
Iran Conflict 2026#894 May
Mentioned in: Hengaw counts 30 sentenced, 13 hanged
Iran Conflict 2026#884 May
Confirmed executions and reported wartime political execution register at 25-plus since 28 February
Iran Conflict 2026: Mashhad hangs Rasouli and Miri on 4 MayCommon Questions
- What is Iran Human Rights?
- Iran Human Rights (IHR/IHRNGO) is a Norwegian-registered NGO founded in 2007 by Dr Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. It is the leading independent monitor of executions and political persecution in Iran, operating from Oslo.
- Did Iran execute political prisoners during the 2026 war?
- Iran Human Rights warned that wartime conditions were being used to accelerate political executions. In March 2026, three young men were publicly hanged in Qom on 'waging war against God' charges; one was 19 and had been sentenced fewer than three weeks after arrest.Source: IHR
- Who founded Iran Human Rights?
- IHR was founded in 2007 by Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, an Iranian-Norwegian physician based in Oslo. He serves as its spokesperson and director and is the primary source cited in international media reports on Iranian executions.Source: IHR
- How does Iran Human Rights compare to Hengaw?
- Both are Norway-based NGOs monitoring human rights abuses in Iran. IHR covers the whole country and specialises in execution statistics at national level. Hengaw focuses specifically on Kurdish-majority provinces and publishes detailed casualty and detention reports for those regions. Their datasets are frequently cross-referenced.Source: IHR / Hengaw
- Is Iran Human Rights credible?
- IHR is cited as a primary source by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Amnesty International, and EU sanctions bodies. Tehran rejects its data as fabricated but has never publicly disputed a specific case record on its methodology. Independent assessments consistently find its execution figures conservative rather than inflated.Source: IHR
- How many political prisoners has Iran executed in 2026?
- Iran Human Rights documented 13 political executions in 18 days in March-April 2026. The count continues: Jafar Fakhrabadi was executed at Yazd Central Prison on 27 April, with three more Ali Fahim co-defendants in solitary at Qezel Hesar.Source: Iran Human Rights (IHR)
- How many people has Iran executed during the 2026 conflict?
- Iran Human Rights counted 22 political executions in the six weeks since 19 March 2026, an average of one every two days — the fastest sustained political-execution rate since the 1988 prison massacres. Ten of those executed were protesters from the December 2025 and January 2026 demonstrations.Source: Iran Human Rights
- Who is the founder of Iran Human Rights?
- Iran Human Rights was founded in 2007 by Dr Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a Norwegian-Iranian neurologist based in Oslo. He has been widely cited in international media on Iran's wartime execution patterns.
- Where is Iran Human Rights based and how does it get its information?
- Iran Human Rights is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Denied formal access to Iran since 2005, it operates through diaspora contacts and prisoner family networks inside the country. It uses these sources to document executions and political detentions that the Iranian state does not acknowledge.
- Why do the UN and EU rely on Iran Human Rights data?
- The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and EU sanctions bodies treat IHR's execution counts as functionally equivalent to official statistics because Iran denies the UN access to the country and publishes no independent judicial accountability data. IHR is the only organisation with the scale and methodology to produce a comprehensive national execution count.
- What is the difference between Iran Human Rights and Hengaw?
- Iran Human Rights covers the full national execution and political persecution tally across Iran. Hengaw specialises in Kurdish-majority provinces and produces detailed regional-level reporting. The two organisations use complementary but overlapping source networks and frequently cross-reference each other's data.
Background
IHR has been a primary accountability source throughout the 2026 conflict. By 1 May its count reached 22 political executions in six weeks (one every two days since 19 March), the fastest sustained rate since the 1988 massacres. Ten were protesters from the January 2026 demonstrations; IHR warned that the 60-day internet blackout was enabling secret executions timed to avoid international reaction. The 13 May Hengaw cluster of seven executions across five cities continued the wartime register IHR tracks nationally. By mid-May the state's own Mehr News figure of 3,468 wartime deaths carried no independent corroboration from IHR or any other human rights monitor, illustrating the verification gap IHR's reporting consistently exposes.
How the World Sees Them
United States
US State Department human rights reports on Iran draw directly on IHR documentation, particularly execution counts and political prisoner conditions. The Trump administration's military pressure on Tehran has sat alongside a muted public response to the execution surge IHR is reporting.
European Union
The EU has cited IHR execution figures in multiple rounds of Iran sanctions, treating its reports as functionally equivalent to official statistics. The 2026 conflict complicates that position: sanctions over executions continue while EU governments simultaneously pursue ceasefire diplomacy.
United Nations
The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran has relied on IHR data since the organisation's founding, citing it in annual reports to the Human Rights Council. Denied access to Iran since 2005, the Rapporteur depends on IHR's on-the-ground networks as irreplaceable evidence for accountability.
Iranian government
Tehran characterises IHR as a foreign intelligence asset and dismisses its data as fabricated, never disputing a specific case on the merits. The 2026 Qom hangings and Evin seizure are precisely what IHR warned of; the government has offered no public accounting.