Imprisonment of Christians jumps sixfold as state cracks down on converts

The executions represent a sharp increase of at least 222% compared to March 2024, when only 18 executions were recorded.

Hengaw said it confirmed the identities of all 58 prisoners executed last month, adding that at least four of them were women, three of whom were convicted of murder, while one faced charges related to drug offenses.

Hengaw said that four of the executions were particularly alarming, carried out without prior notice to the prisoners' families, and the individuals not granted final visits before being put to death.

A majority of the executions were related to drug offenses, which accounted for 52% of the cases, in breach of international law. The rest were primarily linked to premeditated murder charges, accounting for 48% of the total executions, according to Hengaw's report.

Last month, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, warned that the Islamic Republic is increasing its use of executions as a tool to suppress dissent as she presented her first report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Sato warned of Iran's increasing use of executions to suppress dissent, with at least 169 executions recorded in January and February alone this year.

"Should this alarming rate remain consistent, the total number of executions could exceed 1,000 this year, a chilling threshold that demands a collective global response,” Sato said.

Iran executed 901 people in 2024, including 31 women, according to the United Nations human rights office.

The plot, which had not previously been reported, did not appear to involve the Iranian state in any way despite its fraught relationship with US-allied countries.

An Iranian man whom SBS News identified as Kamran - a pseudonym used for privacy reasons - attacked the Australian embassy in Tehran with a Molotov cocktail and later followed the ambassador Ian Biggs with the intent to kill him.

Kamran was arrested before carrying out the attack and was later jailed for 17 months although he was released on parole in 2020, the report said.

The leaked documents, provided to SBS by the Iranian hacktivist group Edaalate Ali, come from a cache of over three million files detailing cases tried in Tehran's Revolutionary Court between 2008 and 2023.

Among these included documents relating to the plot against Biggs, revealing that Kamran’s actions began with setting off a firecracker, followed by throwing two Molotov cocktails and then attempting to purchase a handgun with the intent to murder the ambassador, the report added.

According to the documents cited by SBS, Kamran was charged with “collusion and conspiracy with the intent to act against national security through a plot to commit an act of terror and murder Australia's Ambassador.” While Kamran hired two accomplices, the report said they were later released due to insufficient evidence.

Assailant’s sentence and release

Despite the severity of the charges, Kamran’s sentence was reduced from six years to under four years after he requested a pardon, the report said. However, the decision to reduce the sentence was later withdrawn. Kamran was ultimately paroled after serving just under 18 months in 2020, the report added.

While Kamran’s motivations are not fully clear, the report said he claimed personal grievances related to his time in Australia, including allegations of sexual harassment and financial struggles.

Biggs served as Australia's ambassador to Iran from May 2016 until 2019. During this period, the relationship between Australia and Iran was affected by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

According to the report, Biggs publicly backed the nuclear deal, and Australia’s position on the deal was aligned with much of the international community at the time.

In May 2023, Biggs assumed the role of Australia's Ambassador to Austria. He also took on responsibilities as Australia's Resident Representative and Governor on the IAEA Board of Governors, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna, and to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Preparatory Commission.

The Australian government, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Federal Police, declined to comment on the incident, the report said.

“The death of Mahsa Amini was not caused by physical assault, beating, or head trauma,” the Special Committee for Investigating the 2022 protests wrote in its latest report, adding that its findings “reaffirm the conclusion of the Legal Medicine Organization and that law enforcement officers, emergency responders, and hospital personnel acted without negligence.”

Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian woman whose killing at the hands of Iran's morality police in 2022 sparked nationwide ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests.

The report, released on Wednesday, repeats the state’s long-held narrative that Amini died from an existing medical condition. According to the committee, she suffered from a hypothalamic-pituitary axis disorder from childhood and died of “multiple organ failure (MOF) resulting from cerebral hypoxia.”

The panel maintained that medical records and scans were reviewed, though none were made public or shared with Amini’s family or international investigators.

Independent experts and leaked CT images cited by Iran International contradict the official account. The scans, obtained by a hacker group, showed skull fractures and signs of cerebral trauma, which doctors said were consistent with a heavy blow to the head.

Foreign blame and media accusations

The committee categorized the 2022 unrest as a coordinated campaign to destabilize the Islamic Republic. It said that “hostile and subversive domestic elements, as well as a significant number of foreign agents… exploited the protest environment out of opposition to the Islamic Republic and with the intent to incite riots and overthrow the State.”

It cited an array of foreign actors—including the United States, Israel, and European governments—as allegedly instrumental in fueling the unrest, accusing them of organizing “riot cells, arming demonstrators, and disseminating propaganda” through platforms like Iran International, BBC Persian, and the VOA.

The Islamic Republic has openly threatened Iran International’s reporters for covering developments in Iran and amplifying the voices of the people and has plotted to assassinate several of the network’s staff.

It also said platforms like Instagram were used to spread instructions on making Molotov cocktails and encourage attacks on security forces.

With the start of the 2022 protests, the Islamic Republic once again resorted to its familiar tactics of suppressing nationwide demonstrations by cutting off internet access across the country and heavily censoring the flow of information.

Numerous reports showed that during the anti-government protests in various cities across Iran, internet connectivity was disrupted and text messaging services were shut down.

Disputed death toll

The committee reported 281 fatalities in the unrest: 90 individuals it classified as “rioters,” 54 security officers, and 112 civilians it said were killed under ambiguous circumstances. It acknowledged 6,308 injuries, 90% of them among security personnel, and estimated financial damages exceeding 20 trillion rials (about $20 million).

It denied any pattern of abuse in detention, saying, “No complaints have been reported to the Committee” regarding mistreatment, and maintained that “each of the ten individuals” executed in connection with the protests was convicted of premeditated murder.

The findings contradict documentation from Iran Human Rights, which recorded at least 551 protester deaths—including 68 children—and dozens of suspicious deaths in custody.

While defending the conduct of law enforcement, the report conceded that “in rare cases some officers acted beyond their legal duties” and said 621 judicial cases had been filed against personnel, mostly resulting in convictions, acquittals, or dismissals.

The Islamic Republic’s special committee rejected widespread reports of sexual assault and rape against protesters, saying that out of the 45 individuals said to have been victims, only the identities of five had been provided — and that these five had not filed any complaints regarding such abuse at the time of their detention.

Harrowing testimonies from Iranian dissidents across multiple provinces suggest a systematic and widespread weaponization of sexual violence by security forces to stifle protests in 2022, according to a year-long investigation by Iran International.

A section of the report said that if security forces had used live ammunition as per the allegations from rights groups, the protests would have been suppressed more easily, fewer officers would have been injured, and there would have been less damage to public property.

International scrutiny and domestic defiance

Despite broad international condemnation of its handling of the protests and the UN Human Rights Council’s mandate for an independent fact-finding mission, Iran continues to reject the work of the team.

“The Special Committee—despite not recognizing the legitimacy of the International Fact-Finding Mission—held two virtual meetings with them,” the report said, adding that documentation had been provided via unofficial channels.

The committee did not clarify whether it will publish the evidence cited in its findings or allow independent verification.

The report concluded by recommending structural reforms, expanded propaganda efforts abroad, and increased legal action against perceived foreign interference.

University officials confirmed that Alireza Doroudi, a PhD student in mechanical engineering, was arrested off-campus by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The reason for Doroudi’s detention has not been made public.

Doroudi, an Iranian citizen, was in the US on a student visa and specialized in metallurgical engineering, according to public records.

In a statement, the University of Alabama College Democrats described the arrest as a “cold, vicious dagger through the heart of UA’s international community,” and said ICE had yet to provide any justification. “Our fears have come to pass,” the group added.

Doroudi’s detention also comes as the Trump administration considers new travel restrictions that could fully suspend visa issuance for citizens of countries including Iran. If implemented, the policy would block legal entry for Iranian nationals and further tighten immigration rules.

In February, several Iranians deported by US authorities were sent to detention centers in Panama, where they reported harsh conditions and limited access to food, medicine, and legal aid. Advocacy groups have warned that deported Iranians, including religious minorities, face risk of persecution.

The arrest follows detentions at other US universities. This week, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University was taken into ICE custody after being accused by the Department of Homeland Security of supporting Hamas.

Earlier this month, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and organizer of pro-Palestinian campus protests, was arrested by immigration officers in New York. Khalil is a US permanent resident.

The resolution, expected to be voted on within 10 days, condemns systematic human rights violations in Iran and calls on the Islamic Republic to end its structural impunity for perpetrators of crimes and to fully cooperate with the UN's Special Rapporteur and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.

"The structural impunity that the Islamic Republic has granted to officials and agents of suppression and perpetrators of crimes against the people strengthens the chain of violence and violates the victims' right to justice," the draft resolution read.

In April 2024, the Council voted to extend the Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate for an additional year.

As per the resolution, the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran is also expected to be extended for another year, with a focus on monitoring, documenting, and assessing Iran's progress in implementing the council’s recommendations.

The resolution, drafted by Iceland, Germany, North Macedonia, Moldova, the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland, highlights concerns over the suppression of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and the increasing use of the death penalty.

The resolution calls on Iran to amend discriminatory laws, ensure fair trials, lift restrictions on civil society, and allow access to the country for UN human rights investigators.

The council condemns the use of capital punishment to create public fear and suppress political dissent, warning that Iran's punitive approach, including death sentences for crimes not meeting the "most serious crimes" threshold, violates international law.

The resolution also cites the suppression of freedom of expression and assembly, harassment of journalists and media workers, restrictions on human rights defenders and civil activists, and widespread discrimination against minorities as key human rights violations.

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, established following widespread protests in 2022, will continue to gather evidence of human rights violations related to the suppression of protests, including gender and ethnicity-based discrimination and excessive use of force.

The mission's mandate includes preparing evidence for potential future legal proceedings to hold perpetrators accountable.

The UN Human Rights Council's decision follows reports by the fact-finding mission documenting widespread human rights violations, including torture and sexual violence in prisons, which they say constitute crimes against humanity.

In a letter to UN member states earlier in March, 42 Iranian and international human rights organizations called for the renewal of the Special Rapporteur's mandate and the continuation of an independent investigative mechanism with a broad mandate to build on the fact-finding mission's work.

UN Special Rapporteur Mai Sato warned of Iran's increasing use of executions to suppress dissent, with at least 169 executions recorded in January and February alone.

"Countries should make an informed decision considering the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic," Sato said earlier in the month, expressing hope that her mandate would be extended. "There are many human rights issues in Iran that need to be monitored and addressed, and ideally, prevented."

Iran has summoned the German ambassador and British charge d'affaires over their countries' role in drafting the resolution, describing the move as provocative and irresponsible.

Iran's allies, including Venezuela, North Korea, and China, have dismissed the UN fact-finding mission as politically motivated.