Millions of Iranians pray for a regime change. They long for meaningful reform in their country. The current conflict involving Israel and the United States has renewed hopes for greater justice and freedom—even as many people continue to endure persecution, imprisonment, torture, and executions.
For others, the only option has been to leave. They have fled their homeland under dangerous conditions, sometimes risking their lives crossing mountainous borders into neighboring countries. Those who reach safety often face new challenges—seeking asylum, rebuilding their lives, and striving for the right to work and live with dignity.
The National, a media source headquartered in Abu Dhabi says that “Less than one per cent of the country has had internet access for 37 days, and even for those who are allowed access, it is often limited to a few services.” It is difficult to get information except from human rights groups or social media. Reports differ widely especially in terms of the numbers of people being arrested or executed.
According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, the regime has launched a sweeping crackdown, with at least 1,500 people arrested since January 2026, though the true number is likely much higher. Security forces are systematically targeting students, activists, and religious minorities even expanding their repression to the families of those who have sought exile abroad.
People are targeted on the streets as well as at checkpoints. Phones and other digital devices are often checked or confiscated by armed state agents looking for any sign of dissent.
ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty)—or Ensemble contre la peine de mort—is a Paris-based international human rights organization that partners with Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) to publish detailed annual reports on the death penalty, executions, and human rights violations in Iran. Raphael Chenuil-Hazan, executive director of ECPM, said: “The death penalty in Iran is used as a political tool of oppression and repression, with ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups disproportionately represented among those executed.”
UCA (Union of Catholic Asian) News, on April 13, 2026 reported that Iranian executions have surged to 35-year high amid war and protests. At least 1,639 people were executed in 2025, the highest number since 1989, with NGOs warning of more prisoners facing death sentences. Women who are arrested often because of their association with husbands are increasingly being executed. In 2025, 48 women were hanged. “The highest number in 20 years.”
Most days the Iranian media and individual reports on social media platforms like Facebook disclose executions of political prisoners who are claimed to be a threat to the current regime. Two, three sometimes even four people are brutally executed for their alleged crimes against the government. A member of The Center for Human Rights in Iran posted on Facebook, April 5, 2026 that nine political prisoners were executed the previous week.
In one example on March 19, 2026 the Center for Human Rights reported the detainment of 3 young men, ages 19, and 21, who had been tortured and convicted of “waging war against God”. They were arrested during the January protests. They were publicly hanged in Qom.
Attention recently has been drawn again to members of the largest non-Muslim community. History will tell the story that for 47 years they have been denied their rights as citizens. Their businesses have been closed, schools forced to shut down or demolished and participation in government jobs denied. Instead they have been secretly arrested and held in prison without any sort of due process. Far too often this ends in torture or execution when government forces attempt to get them to confess to crimes against the government or to recant their faith. Two of the most recent examples are given below.
The situation in Iran remains dire. Citizens are facing a war on two sides, from the bombs being dropped by the U.S. and Israel to the threat of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps). And yet there is hope for a future where change will bring a Democratic government with freedoms unimaginable now and justice for all.
