US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of Iran's execution of protesters, claiming Tehran can no longer afford to fund its armed forces and is facing a humanitarian crisis "of epic proportions".
"The failing Islamic Republic of Iran is not paying large segments of their military, while at the same time killing protesters, even when they are not protesting, at levels not seen before," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
"It is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, and must be stopped, now," he added.
In January, warning of imminent executions, Trump said the United States would take "very severe action" if they went ahead.
Days later he said reliable sources had informed him that the executions of "more than 800 detained protesters" had been halted, a claim Iranian officials did not confirm.
In April, Trump said eight Iranian women shown in a photograph circulating online had been sentenced to death and called for their release. The following day he said they had been pardoned.
A Euronews Persian investigation, citing two independent human rights organisations, found that only one of the eight women, Beita Hemmati, had actually received a death sentence.
Last month Trump reposted material about the execution of protesters and, reacting to the killing of Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, a 23-year-old demonstrator, called the Islamic Republic "barbaric".
Iran's escalating execution rate
International concern over Tehran's use of the death penalty against protesters has grown significantly.
On 12 August, 32 countries including France, the UK and Canada issued a joint statement condemning the Islamic Republic's use of capital punishment to "silence dissent" and calling for an immediate halt to executions and the release of those arbitrarily detained.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Tehran was using executions to "create fear".
"Since 19 March 2026 at least 56 people have been executed on charges related to national security, including 27 in cases linked to the January protests," Türk said in a statement this month, adding that more than 100 others were at risk of execution.
The Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre, an Iranian human rights organisation based in Washington, recorded at least 901 executions in Iran in the first seven months of 2026, 56 of them on political or national security charges. Of those, at least 29 were executed in connection with the January protests.
RelatedThe January 2026 protests erupted following the collapse of the Iranian rial the month before and spread rapidly to more than 180 cities.
Security forces killed thousands of people during a crackdown on 8 and 9 January in the resulting crackdown.
Iran's Supreme Council of National Security acknowledged a death toll of more than 3,000. The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran put the figure at at least 5,000, while human rights groups and insiders in Iran believe the actual number of those killed may have surpassed 32,000.
At least 1,639 people were executed in Iran in 2025, the highest annual figure since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights and the organisation Together Against the Death Penalty.
