Iran executes dozens, arrests 4,000-plus in war crackdown
UN High Commissioner Human rights On Tuesday, Volker Turk accused the Iranian regime of dramatically intensifying its crackdown on dissidents following the conflict in February, warning that Tehran was carrying out executions, mass arrests, torture and one of the world’s longest internet shutdowns while citing national security.
At least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security-related charges since February 28, Turk said in a strongly worded statement from Geneva, as the regime faces increasing scrutiny over what it describes as a sweeping attack on fundamental rights.
“In addition to the already serious effects of the conflict, I am appalled that the rights of the Iranian people are being taken away by the authorities through harsh and brutal methods,” Turk said.
During the demonstration, a protester holds banners saying “Stop executions in Iran” and “Liberate Iran”. Demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street to protest executions in Iran and support Iran’s freedom.
(Getty Images)
The UN said nine people have been executed since the conflict began two months ago. January 2026 protests10 of them for allegedly being members of opposition groups, and two of them for espionage charges. It is estimated that around 40,000 people were killed by regime forces during the uprising in January.
Turk says Iran’s widespread use of vaguely defined national security laws has given authorities expedite prosecutions, deny legal counsel and reliance on coerced confessions.
“Even if national security is invoked, human rights can only be limited when absolutely necessary and proportionate,” he appealed to Tehran. he said. stop executions, impose moratorium They should be sentenced to death, and those arbitrarily detained should be released immediately.
For many Iranian dissidents, the findings reflect an already dire reality.
A billboard depicting Iran’s religious leaders since 1979 – ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026) and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) is displayed on a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026.
“This is bad,” Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American journalist and editor of Iran So Far Away Substack, told Fox News Digital. “They are completely kill the country“
On Saturday, it was reported that Iran executed another 21-year-old karate champion athlete. According to Euronews, Sassan Azadvar Joonqani was detained during anti-regime protests in January and was executed by the regime on Thursday.
In March, Iran executed another 19-year-old wrestling champion athlete Salih MuhammadiAccording to Fox News Digital, for protesting the regime.
Turk’s office reported that detainees faced enforced disappearances, torture, mock executions Televised confessions that ethnic and religious minorities, including Baha’is, Zoroastrians, Kurds and Iranian Baluchis, face particular risk.
Ali and Kiana Rahmani accepted the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of their mother, detained Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, at Oslo City Hall in Norway on December 10, 2023.
Among those named by the UN was incarcerated Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, whose condition deteriorated sharply on Friday following months of lack of specialized care in what her family described as a catastrophic health crisis.
According to the Narges Foundation’s statement published on Friday, Muhammadi was urgently transferred from Zanjan Prison to the hospital by ambulance after suffering complete loss of consciousness twice in a single day, accompanied by serious heart disease.
The trust said prison doctors determined his condition could no longer be managed on-site after what his family called a “last-minute” transfer that may have arrived dangerously late.
Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, told Fox News Digital earlier this week that her physical condition was already deteriorating after what she described as a violent arrest and deteriorating prison treatment.
“He has suffered serious trauma and needs urgent medical attention,” he said.
Rahmani had previously said Mohammedi’s medical team and outside experts had pressured him to seek treatment in Tehran because of it. history Although he had undergone multiple heart surgeries, authorities allegedly blocked these recommendations until his condition became life-threatening. Despite her physical decline, “Spiritually and mentally Narges remains unshakable,” Rahmani said.
Iran’s Khamenei Attacks Protesters as Anti-Regime Unrest Grows Nationwide
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, tear gas is fired during an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on January 2. 8, 2026.
The UN statement, along with Mohammedi’s urgent hospitalization, intensified scrutiny of prison conditions in Iran, which Turk described as overcrowding, medical neglect and serious human rights violations.
Turk also quoted harsh prison conditionsIncluding overcrowding, shortages of food, water and medicine, and denial of medical care.
The UN also highlighted reports of deadly violence in detention centres, including allegations that security forces killed at least five detainees at Chabahar Prison following protests over the suspension of food distribution.
But while opponents welcomed the UN’s unusually strong language, some also questioned whether it was possible. Condemnation without action can be meaningful Conditions will change, especially with Iran’s elevation this week to vice-chairmanship of the UN nuclear non-proliferation committee.
Zand said the reason why Iranians “do not trust, dislike, and do not want to hear from the UN is because of what he describes as the UN’s failure to “seize the opportunity to respond to the regime and hold its foot to the fire with the right amount of pressure at the right time.”
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Iranian diaspora activists gather in front of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin on January 27, 2024, to protest the increase in death sentences for the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The show was organized by the group Echo Iran.
While Zand said the latest statement itself was important, he argued that many people thought such condemnations were hollow when paired with what they saw as the institutional legitimacy granted to Tehran.
“They’re making a statement….Okay,” he said. “But what are they going to do about it?”
Original article source: ‘Slaughtering the country’: Iran executes dozens, arrests more than 4,000 in war crackdown
