The execution of Zahra, according to the report, brings the total number of women executed in Iran since the beginning of 2025 to 35.
Iranian authorities have executed a 52-year-old woman, Zahra Fotouhi, in Tabriz Central Prison for killing her ex-husband, a crime committed amid allegations of domestic violence and harassment.
Zahra, executed at dawn on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, had been arrested five years ago on charges of killing her ex-husband and was detained under a death sentence, according to Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.
She was a victim of domestic violence and harassment from her ex-husband, the NCRI Women’s Committee, an advocacy group affiliated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said.
The execution of Zahra, according to the report, brings the total number of women executed in Iran since the beginning of 2025 to 35.
According to the NCRI Women’s Committee, many women executed in Iran are victims of domestic violence and discriminatory family laws, often acting in self-defense.
In a disturbing pattern, Hadiqeh Abadi, an Afghan national, was executed at dawn on September 11, 2025, in Qazvin Prison alongside her husband, Younes Mazaarshams.
Hadiqeh Abadi, the mother of three children, had lived in Iran for the past two decades. She and her husband were arrested four years ago on drug-related charges and subsequently sentenced to death. Before their arrest, the couple had been working as caretakers in the city of Taleqan, in Alborz Province.
A few months ago, Iranian authorities handed over Hadiqeh’s children to the Afghan government, separating them from their parents before their executions took place.
It noted that in the past 50 days, since July 30, at least 11 women have been executed in Iran under the misogynistic clerical regime.
The women’s committee’s data, shows that at least 298 women have been executed in Iran since 2007.
The number of women executed in Iran saw a sharp rise in 2024. At least 34 women were hanged last year, with 23 of these executions occurring after Masoud Pezeshkian took office.
In the Iranian calendar Year 1403, at least 38 women were executed in Iran, marking a disturbing 90% increase compared to the previous year.
During the year since Pezeshkian took office in late July 2024, the number of execution victims in Iran has surpassed 1,750. The total number of executions in 2024 was just over 1,000.
Human rights organizations have condemned the Iranian regime’s use of capital punishment, particularly against women and minority groups.
The regime’s judicial system has been criticised for failing to consider the context of crimes, such as domestic violence, and for relying heavily on forced confessions.
