HRW and Boroumand Center: At Least 59 Men Executed on Political Charges Since March, Including Teenagers

Human Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that Iranian authorities executed at least 59 men on politically motivated national-security charges between mid-March and August 2026, following grossly unfair trials tainted by torture-extracted confessions. Twenty-nine of the cases were tied to the December 2025–January 2026 protests; several victims were 18 or 19 years old, and five were hanged in public using truck-mounted cranes. Sixteen of the 29 protest-related cases involved no allegation that the accused had killed anyone. HRW senior Iran researcher Bahar Saba said: 'Day after day, Iran's authorities are sending protesters, including teenagers, to the gallows based on torture-tainted confessions,' adding that 'the authorities' message is clearly that protests will be met with brutality.'