A group of human rights activists in Iran, in a report on the occasion of World Day against the fight against the death penalty, announced that during the past year, 2,003 people have been executed in Iran, at least 69 of whom faced political and security-related charges.

Pagah Boniahashami, a legal researcher, said that the wave of executions is part of the severe crackdown on the protests of Dey [December] and that the Islamic Republic uses it to create deterrence and scare society. She added that the executions may affect people’s decisions about taking to the streets, but given economic and social crises, they cannot completely halt protests.