Amnesty International said on Monday that executions worldwide rose to their highest recorded level in more than four decades in 2025, with the Islamic Republic responsible for the vast majority of the increase.
At least 2,707 people were executed across 17 countries in 2025, the rights group said in its annual report on the global use of the death penalty, describing the figure as the highest recorded since it began tracking executions in 1981.
Iranian authorities carried out at least 2,159 executions in 2025, more than double the figure recorded the previous year and by far the largest contributor to the global rise, according to the report.
“A shameless minority are weaponizing the death penalty to instill fear, crush dissent and punish marginalized communities,” Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard said.
Drug-related executions drove increase
A resurgence of punitive anti-drug policies, Amnesty said, fueled much of the increase in executions globally.
Nearly half of all known executions in 2025 – 1,257 cases – were linked to drug-related offenses, including in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Kuwait.
Iran accounted for 998 of those executions, the highest number among countries identified in the report.
Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions in 2025 and made extensive use of capital punishment in drug-related cases, Amnesty said.
The organization also reported increases in executions in several other countries, with Kuwait nearly tripling its total from six to 17 executions. Egypt’s number rose from 13 to 23, Singapore’s from nine to 17 and the United States from 25 to 47.
The report did not include the thousands of executions Amnesty believes continued to take place in China, which it said remained the world’s leading executioner.
Executing states remain minority
Despite the sharp rise in executions, Amnesty said countries carrying out the death penalty remained “an isolated minority.”
China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United States, Vietnam and Yemen have all carried out executions every year for the past five years, according to the report.
Four countries resumed executions in 2025 – Japan, South Sudan, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates – bringing the total number of executing states to 17.
“It’s time for executing countries to step into line with the rest of the world and leave this abhorrent practice in the past,” Callamard said.
Amnesty highlights abolition efforts
The global trend toward abolishing the death penalty nevertheless continued, Amnesty said.
When the organization began campaigning against capital punishment in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it. That number has now risen to 113, according to the report.
Vietnam abolished the death penalty for eight offenses including drug transportation, bribery and embezzlement, while Gambia removed capital punishment for murder, treason and other offenses against the state.
The organization also pointed to legislative efforts in Lebanon and Nigeria aimed at abolishing the death penalty, while Kyrgyzstan’s Constitutional Court ruled attempts to restore executions unconstitutional.
“With human rights under threat around the world, millions of people continue to fight against the death penalty each year in a powerful demonstration of our shared humanity,” Callamard said.
A report by Peyam-e Ma documents a growing trend in which 40–60 square meter apartments are being split between unrelated occupants as rent levels outpace incomes and turn standard tenancy into negotiated cohabitation.
Conditions reshape tenancy norms
In one case cited by the report, a landlord in a central district of Tehran asked for a deposit of 1,000,000,000 rials (about $550) and monthly rent of 50,000,000 rials ($28) for a shared arrangement, alongside strict conditions including limited visitors, full-time employment, and no pets.
The minimum wage in Iran is currently around $90 per month.
Another listing involved a 50-square-meter apartment where the owner offered reduced rent in exchange for domestic work. The monthly payment was set at 70,000,000 rials ($39), down from 120,000,000 rials ($67) if cooking duties were included.
A separate case involved a duplex property being partially rented out for a deposit of 3,000,000,000 rials ($1,667) and monthly rent of 150,000,000 rials ($83), with cohabitation offered to another couple.
From coping mechanism to structural pressure
A deputy head of Iran’s real estate brokers’ association told Peyam-e Ma that shared housing can be understood as a lifestyle choice seen in other countries, noting its historical presence in Iran as well.
But the report highlights a widening gap between that framing and current conditions, with landlords increasingly using cohabitation models to cover mortgage payments and living costs, while tenants accept reduced privacy in exchange for affordability.
Exit from Tehran’s rental market
Brokers interviewed for the report say some tenants are leaving the capital altogether or returning to smaller cities as rents rise beyond sustainable thresholds. Others, particularly single occupants, are moving back into parental homes.
One housing expert quoted in the report warns that continued displacement from urban centres could accelerate informal settlement growth around major cities, describing it as an emerging phase of housing exclusion rather than a temporary adjustment.
Another analyst argues that prolonged multigenerational living has masked underlying demand for independent housing, particularly among younger Iranians delaying marriage or household formation due to cost barriers.
This suppressed demand, he said, is becoming more visible as household structures shift and single-person living increases, exposing shortages in affordable rental stock.
Rising pressure on tenants
Data referenced in the report from Iran’s statistics authority indicates that roughly 51 percent of Tehran residents are renters, underscoring the city’s dependence on the private rental sector.
With average monthly rents for standard apartments ranging between 180,000,000 and 270,000,000 rials ($100–$150), costs now far exceed minimum wages reported at around 166,000,000 rials ($92).
Inflation in rent prices is recorded at 31.1 percent year-on-year, but market participants in the report say this figure reflects affordability limits rather than easing pressure, as tenants are unable to absorb further increases.
Poverty exposure among renters
Refering to a parliamentary research, the report says that around 27 percent of renting households fall below the poverty line under conventional measures, rising to roughly 40 percent when housing costs are included.
It also adds that the majority of low-income renters are concentrated in the bottom income deciles, with Tehran accounting for the largest share.
The spread of shared housing is therefore presented not as an isolated social shift, but as part of a broader tightening of access to independent accommodation in Iran’s largest urban centre.
The shortages follow repeated disruptions in the production and distribution chain of opium syrup, a drug widely used in Iran’s maintenance treatment programs for patients who cannot easily switch to alternatives such as methadone because of physical dependence or medical complications.
Experts and addiction treatment activists warned the shortages are no longer only a clinical problem but a broader social crisis with potential consequences for public health, crime and family stability.
“These medications are essential for patients and stopping access does not mean they stop using drugs,” addiction expert Habib Bahrami told Shargh. “In many cases they return directly to narcotics use, bringing social, economic and family consequences.”
Some clinics, according to the report, have seen supplies fall so sharply that only one out of every 100 eligible patients can obtain opium syrup.
Patients pushed back toward illicit drugs
Bahrami said shortages had already emerged before the recent regional conflicts and economic pressures intensified.
“Before the war we were already seeing reduced supplies,” he said. “In some medical universities, opium syrup distribution was nearly halted before the Persian New Year (late March) without explanation.”
Patients unable to obtain the medication, he said, often return to street narcotics markets to avoid severe withdrawal symptoms, undermining years of treatment and increasing pressure on healthcare.
Methadone syrup continues to be distributed more consistently, Bahrami said, but many patients cannot easily transition to substitute medications.
Supply chain problems deepen shortages
Activists and treatment providers offered differing explanations for the shortages, with some blaming administrative restrictions and others pointing to shortages of raw materials used in production.
Abbas Deilamizadeh, head of the addiction recovery NGO Tavallod-e Dobareh (Rebirth Society), said insufficient access to raw opium materials has sharply reduced production and fueled the emergence of a black market.
“The shortage of raw materials has caused shortages in the market and created serious problems for patients,” Deilamizadeh told Shargh.
He argued that tighter state oversight of legal cultivation could provide a long-term solution.
“The only solution, in my view, is government-supervised poppy cultivation to supply the raw materials needed for this treatment method,” he said.
Addiction centers face mounting pressure
Treatment providers also warned that financial pressures and recent regional conflict have weakened addiction recovery services more broadly.
Deilamizadeh said many residential treatment centers are struggling with unrealistic state tariffs that fail to cover operational costs amid high inflation.
“For a 30-day stay, less than 100 million rials ($55) is allocated per patient,” he said. “That amount does not realistically cover accommodation, utilities, staff and treatment standards.”
He also said voluntary admissions to treatment centers have dropped sharply in recent months because of insecurity and public anxiety linked to regional military escalation.
“Based on our experience, voluntary admissions have fallen by around 40 percent,” he said.
Bahrami said some centers discharged patients during periods of heightened military tension and avoided taking new admissions because of security concerns.
“When society is overwhelmed by war-related fears, vulnerable groups are pushed further to the margins,” he said.
At a preliminary hearing on Friday that lasted about 30 minutes, Oisin McGuinness, 21, and Nathan Dunn, 19, appeared by video link before Mrs. Justice Cheema-Grubb at the Central Criminal Court.
A third defendant, who is under 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, is also charged in the case.
No pleas were entered at Friday’s hearing. A Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing has been set for August 28, 2026, when pleas are expected to be heard. The trial is listed for three weeks.
McGuinness, Dunn and the third defendant are charged with arson with intent to endanger life, contrary to the Criminal Damage Act 1977.
The charges relate to an alleged incident on April 15, 2026, when an ignited container was thrown into a car park near the network’s studios in northwest London.
There were no reports of injuries or damage following the attempted attack. Officers pursued a black SUV which later crashed on Ballards Lane in Finchley.
McGuinness also faces a charge of dangerous driving, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988, in relation to alleged driving on Ballards Lane and Woodberry Way.
McGuinness and Dunn were remanded in custody. The third defendant is on remand under local authority supervision.
All charges are alleged and have not been proven.
In a statement, Iran International said the attack highlights increasing pressure on its journalists and their families, particularly following the recent war involving Iran.
The broadcaster said its staff and their relatives have faced threats and harassment, describing the situation as an effort to silence independent reporting.
The accounts describe growing frustration over restricted access to subsidized gasoline and arbitrary limits imposed by operators, leaving many motorists dependent on costly unofficial sales.
“One day there’s quota left on your card, the next day it says your quota is finished,” one citizen said. “They even steal the few drops of gasoline they give people.”
Iran uses a subsidized fuel quota system controlled through electronic fuel cards. Every private vehicle receives a monthly gasoline allocation at discounted prices, while extra consumption is charged at higher rates.
Under Iran’s latest pricing system introduced in late 2025, the first 60 liters of gasoline each month cost 15,000 rials per liter (about $0.008), the next 100 liters cost 30,000 rials ($0.017), and any amount above 160 liters costs 50,000 rials ($0.028).
Despite heavy fuel subsidies, Iran’s minimum monthly wage is now worth less than $90 because of inflation and the sharp decline of the rial.
Another driver said he could not use his personal fuel card on Wednesday because his monthly allocation had already run out. The station operator, he said, agreed to provide a fuel card only if payment was handed directly to him, and even then limited sales to 15 liters at 70,000 rials ($0.038) per liter.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said in late April that the country faced “some shortages” in sectors including energy and fuel.
On May 9, Esmail Saghab Esfahani, vice president and head of Iran’s Strategic Energy Policy and Management Organization, said damage during the war had affected parts of the country’s gas and fuel infrastructure and disrupted some gasoline production capacity.
He said Iran had “no choice but to conserve” fuel consumption for at least the next 18 to 24 months.
But Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on April 29 there were no concerns over fuel supply or distribution.
Black market prices rise
A resident of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran said drivers often wait more than an hour at gas stations, even with personal fuel cards, while gasoline is “widely available” on the black market at 150,000 rials, about $0.08, per liter.
In Zahedan, in southeastern Iran, one resident said gasoline shortages and tighter controls had accelerated illegal fuel sales.
“Everything has been left without oversight,” the resident said. “Sometimes 20 liters of gasoline is sold on the street for 10 million rials ($5.5).”
One driver from Isfahan said operators demanded between 1 million rials ($0.55) and 4 million rials ($2.22) to provide access to only 15 liters.
Citizens also described growing congestion at gas stations nationwide, with drivers saying some stations on major routes had limited purchases to 15 liters.
A resident of Sistan and Baluchestan said 70 liters of gasoline now costs around 50 million rials, about $28, while many villagers must drive hundreds of kilometers to reach hospitals or provincial centers.
For many Iranians, the shortages have become less a matter of conservation than another daily pressure in an increasingly strained economy.
