In a disturbing escalation of its use of capital punishment, Iran has carried out at least seven executions, including two women, on Saturday, according to a monitor. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) has reported a total of 223 executions this year, with a staggering 50 individuals put to death in May alone.

Following the conclusion of the Persian New Year and Ramadan holidays in April, Iran has witnessed a surge in executions, with 115 people, including six women, hanged since then. The Islamic Republic now ranks second only to China in terms of the overall number of executions carried out.

Iran has garnered significant attention for its record of executing women, surpassing any other country. In fact, the number of hangings conducted by Iran last year was the highest since 2015, state human rights organizations, who accuse the regime of employing capital punishment as a method to instill fear in the aftermath of the protests that erupted in autumn 2022.

Rights groups have consistently pointed out that the death penalty is disproportionately used against Iran's ethnic and religious minorities, such as Kurds, Turks, Arabs, and Balochis. The country has witnessed occasional outbursts of unrest since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, in September 16, 2022. Mahsa fell into a coma and tragically passed away three days later following her arrest by the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.

International organizations have denounced Iran's escalating use of capital punishment as a grave violation of human rights and have called for its immediate cessation. The alarming number of executions paints a distressing picture of the situation in Iran, raising concerns about the ongoing suppression of dissent and the need for urgent reform within the country's justice system.