Overseeing a sharp rise in executions after appointing Ejei, with more than 1,000 hanged in 2025 alone
Khamenei appointed Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei (@ejei_org) judiciary chief in 2021. Amnesty said Iran executed 853 people in 2023, an eight-year high. The UN said more than 900 were executed in 2024. By September 2025 Amnesty said the yearly toll had already passed 1,000, many for drug offences after unfair trials.
Editorial timeline of public reporting, not a legal finding.
- Khamenei appoints Mohseni Ejei head of the judiciary - Human Rights Watch and later Amnesty reporting tied the execution surge to the tenure of Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei (@ejei_org), whom Khamenei appointed judiciary chief, a security-judiciary figure close to the Leader. World Report 2024: Iran
- Amnesty: 853 executions in 2023, an eight-year high - Amnesty International said Iran executed at least 853 people in 2023, many for drug offences after unfair trials, the highest total in eight years amid renewed anti-drug repression. Iran executes 853 people in eight-year high amid repression, war on drugs
- UN: more than 900 executions in 2024, including dozens of women - Reuters reported that UN experts said Iran executed more than 900 people in 2024, including dozens of women, and condemned the rising use of the death penalty. UN says Iran executed over 900 people in 2024, including dozens of women
- Amnesty: 2025 execution toll already past 1,000 - Amnesty International said in September 2025 that Iranian authorities had already executed more than 1,000 people that year and called it a horrifying assault on the right to life. Iran: Over 1,000 people executed as authorities step up assault on right to life