Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, in a new report published on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, on Amnesty International’s website, stated that since June 13, 2025, over 20,000 individuals, including political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists, social media users, families of protest victims, foreign nationals—particularly Afghans—and members of Baluch and Kurdish ethnic minorities as well as Baha’i, Christian, and Jewish religious minorities, have been detained.
Security forces have opened fire on civilians’ vehicles at checkpoints, in one instance killing a three-year-old girl. On the evening of July 17, in Khomein County, four people, including a young child and her mother, were killed by security and military forces’ gunfire.
According to the report, at least nine men have been executed on political charges or for alleged espionage for Israel, and a bill to expand the use of the death penalty is awaiting approval by the Guardian Council. Some officials and state media have called for swift executions and have even openly promoted repeating the mass killings of political prisoners in 1988.
In Sistan and Baluchistan, security forces killed two Baluch women and injured at least 10 others by firing on a group of women. Additionally, on June 25, state media reported the arrest of over 700 people across the country on charges of “collaborating with Israel,” naming Kermanshah and Khuzestan as among the provinces with the highest number of arrests.
Religious minorities have also been heavily targeted. Baha’is have been accused of spying for Israel in a government propaganda campaign, with dozens detained, interrogated, and their properties confiscated. Since June, at least 54 Christians have been arrested, and at least 35 Jews in Shiraz and Tehran have been interrogated for their connections with relatives in Israel.
The report highlights widespread arrests, hasty trials, expedited executions, discrimination against Afghans, and unlawful killings at checkpoints as part of a systematic crackdown.
In Sistan and Baluchistan, two Baluch women, Khan Bibi Bameri and Lali Bameri, were killed, and 10 other women were injured. In Fars Province, 66-year-old Mehran Dastournejad was arrested and beaten. In Mazandaran, Noyan Hajazi and Lova Samimi were detained. Homayoun Samieh Najafabadi, the Jewish representative in parliament, reported the arrest of several Jews. In Hamedan, Alireza Karbasi and Mehdi Abaei were killed. In Khomein, four members of a family—Mohammad Hossein Sheikhi, Mahboubeh Sheikhi, Farzaneh Heidari, and their three-year-old daughter, Raha Sheikhi—were killed by security forces’ gunfire.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for an immediate halt to executions, the release of those arbitrarily detained, and guarantees to prevent enforced disappearances, torture, and ill-treatment. They also urged other governments to pursue legal action against Iranian authorities’ crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
