Women Executed in Iran in 2024

Iran is the world’s top executioner of women, with at least 31 executed in Iran in 2024, the highest number of women executions since 2010. As previously mentioned, there was a sharp drop in the execution of women on drug-related charges after the 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws, which was reversed in practice in 2021, consistent with the rise in overall drug-related executions.

In December 2024, IHRNGO published a gendered perspective of women executions in Iran which provides a thorough analysis of the discriminatory laws and societal factors that impact women on death row in Iran.[1] According to the report, between 2010 and November 2024, at least 241 women were executed, with the majority convicted of murder and drug-related offences. Many of the women were victims of domestic violence, child brides, or from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds. The report underscores key challenges such as lack of fair trial rights, gender biases in legal processes, and the absence of support structures for women on death row. IHRNGO also published a report on the inhumane conditions of Qarchak (Gharchak) Prison, where many death row women prisoners are held.[2]

Facts about women executed in 2024

• At least 31 women were executed in 2024
• 19 were sentenced to qisas for murder
• 12 women were executed for drug-related charges
• The identities of 10 of the women are unknown and 4 were only partially identified
• 2 of the women were Baluch and 2 were Kurdish minorities
• 9 women were executed for the murder of their husbands
• At least 2 women were child brides
• Only 4 of the executions were announced by official sources
• At least 241 women were executed between 2010 and 2024

Women executed in 2024

Parvin Mousavi

Parvin Mousavi, was from a deprived background, and her family’s breadwinner while her husband and eldest son were behind bars. She was paid 1 million tomans (approx €15) to transport with two others what she was told was medicine, which turned out to be 5 kilograms of morphine. She was the third defendant in the case, with the first already executed but the second released. After her first transfer for execution, Ejei (IR Head of Judiciary) “himself told her in front of all prisoners that she would be released.”[3] Yet, she was executed in Urmia Central Prison on 18 May 2024 at the age of 57.[4]

[1] IHRNGO, Women and the Death Penalty in Iran: a Gendered Perspective, 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/reports/41/

[2] IHRNGO, Qarchak Prison: Hell for Women and Children, 2024: https://iranhr.net/en/reports/39/

[3] IHRNGO, Parvin Mousavi to be Hanged in Hours; IHRNGO Calls for Urgent Action to Halt Execution, 16 May 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6712/

[4] IHRNGO, At Least 6 People Including Parvin Mousavi Executed for Drug Offences in Urmia, 18 May 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6718/