When the Gallows Become the Language of the State: What Iran’s Wave of Executions Reveals

It is not merely the number that demands attention, but the political meaning behind it. When more than 400 people are executed in Iran within just a few months, the central question is no longer about the statistics themselves. Rather, it is whether the country is witnessing the impartial enforcement of criminal law or the systematic use of capital punishment as a tool of governance and social control.

In states confronted with mounting internal crises, justice can gradually shift from serving as an independent institution to functioning as a political instrument. Iran appears to offer a striking example of this dynamic. The sharp increase in executions has coincided with persistent economic hardship, international sanctions, and growing regional and domestic security pressures. While Iranian authorities maintain........

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