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Iran Human Rights
OrganisationNO

Iran Human Rights

Oslo-based NGO documenting Iranian executions and political persecution since 2007.

Last refreshed: 5 July 2026 · Appears in 4 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

#14230 Jun

Finalised the Khordad execution count at 140, revised up from 134

Iran Conflict 2026: 140 executions sit beneath the talks
#14127 Jun

Documented 134 executions in Khordad, 31 during MOU signing week

Iran Conflict 2026: Iran's hunger strike hits 126 weeks
View full timeline →
Common 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

Background

IHR has been the primary national accountability source throughout the 2026 conflict. Its count of 22 political executions in the six weeks from 19 March, the fastest sustained political-execution rate since the 1988 prison massacres, included ten protesters from the January 2026 demonstrations . Amiry-Moghaddam publicly identified the 88-day internet blackout as structurally enabling execution concealment. IHR documented the 15th execution of a January uprising participant, Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi in Isfahan on 25 May , and by 30 May was co-reporting the death sentence of martial-arts champion Benyamin Naqdi, aged 26, on a moharebeh charge in Shiraz . IHR figures relayed by the NCRI recorded at least 134 executions in the Iranian month of Khordad (22 May to 21 June 2026), including 31 in the four days surrounding the MOU signing (13-16 June), averaging one every three hours during the diplomatic peak. Amnesty International's parallel register passed 200 executions for 2026 by mid-May; IHR's separate count tracked the same surge, against 2,159 for all of 2025. IHR later finalised the Khordad count at 140, revising the figure up from 134 on 30 June, in a report framed as a verification-lag correction rather than fresh killings after the Iranian month ended on 21 June.

Iran Human Rights (IHR, IHRNGO) is an Oslo-based NGO founded in 2007 by Dr Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a Norwegian-Iranian neurologist. It is the principal independent monitor of Iranian executions, operating through diaspora contacts and prisoner-family networks inside the country. The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran has relied on IHR data since the organisation's founding; the EU treats its annual execution tallies as functionally equivalent to official statistics for sanctions purposes. Tehran characterises IHR as a foreign intelligence asset and disputes none of its case records on the merits. IHR distinguishes methodologically between confirmed and reported execution counts, making its figures consistently conservative. It is distinct from Iran HRM (Iran Human Rights Monitor, a separate diaspora monitor) and from Hengaw (a Kurdish-province specialist based in Norway).

More questions
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.
How many people has Iran executed since the 2026 conflict began?
Iran Human Rights recorded at least 134 executions in the single month of Khordad (22 May to 21 June 2026) alone, including 31 in the four days around the MOU signing. Amnesty International's parallel register passed 200 executions for all of 2026 by mid-May.Source: Lowdown iran-conflict-2026
What is Iran Human Rights and how does it gather evidence inside Iran?
Iran Human Rights (IHR) is an Oslo-based NGO founded in 2007. It operates through diaspora contacts and prisoner-family networks inside Iran, distinguishing methodologically between confirmed and reported execution counts. The UN and EU treat its tallies as reliable independent data.Source: Lowdown iran-conflict-2026
Why did Iran execute so many people during the June 2026 MOU signing?
Iran Human Rights recorded 31 executions in the four days surrounding the 13-16 June MOU signing, averaging one every three hours. Analysts link the surge to the regime signalling internal strength to hardliners opposed to the deal.Source: Lowdown iran-conflict-2026
Who is Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam and what does he run?
Dr Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam is a Norwegian-Iranian neurologist who founded Iran Human Rights in Oslo in 2007. He is its executive director and primary public voice, documenting Iranian executions and political persecution through diaspora networks.Source: Lowdown iran-conflict-2026
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