Iran Human Rights, the Norway-based monitoring body, counted 22 political executions in six weeks since 19 March 2026, an average of one execution every two days1. Iran Human Rights has not previously published this composite aggregate. Ten of the 22 were protesters detained during the December 2025 and January 2026 protests, including Sasan Azadvar at Dastgerd Prison on 30 April. Iran Human Rights described the cadence as the fastest sustained political-execution rate Iran has recorded since the 1988 prison massacres.
The count runs concurrent with the longest internet blackout in modern history, which peaked at over 1,440 hours and remains only partly unwound captures the corroborating Hengaw register. Families learn of executions days late; verification depends on prison-source networks and family contacts, with neither Iran Human Rights nor Hengaw holding on-the-ground access. The numbers are reconstructed rather than directly observed, which limits sanctions traction through UN OHCHR machinery.
Hengaw has flagged three further death-row political prisoners removed from Urmia prison this week with concern about imminent executions, with the Pakdasht sentences confirmed by the Supreme Court also pending.
