Following the death of Ebrahim Raisi, the former president and a member of the “Death Committee” responsible for the killings of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran sought to address its domestic legitimacy crisis and continued international decline in influence by approving the candidacy of Masoud Pezeshkian in an attempt to project a new image and increase public participation in the elections. However, these efforts fell flat. The official turnout rate—which is widely distrusted by the public—showed that, despite heavy propaganda campaigns aimed at driving people to the polls, the majority of society boycotted the elections. Among all provinces, Kurdistan recorded the lowest turnout in the country, with only 23% participation.

The rise in executions in Iran has sparked widespread backlash among the public and international organisations. During this year, a campaign titled “No to Execution Tuesdays” emerged in several of the country’s prisons and continues to this day. Additionally, families of prisoners convicted of drug-related offences and political prisoners staged multiple protests in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) and Evin Prison. The most recent report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran also expressed concern over the growing number of executions, noting that most of those executed were from the Kurdish and Baluch minorities.

During the past year, five Kurdish political prisoners – Pakhshan Azizi, Verisheh Moradi (Wirishe Moradi), Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou, Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, and Pezhman Soltani – were sentenced to death. The Supreme Court hastily upheld the death sentences of two of them, and Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou was secretly executed in mid-April 2025 in Orumiyeh Central Prison.

In its continued suppression of Kurdish civilians and activists within the country, the state intensified its pressure on Kurdish opposition forces in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This was accompanied by further missile strikes on the Kurdistan Region throughout the year. During this period, the first phase of a security agreement between Iran, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Regional Government was implemented. As part of this agreement, several families of members from various factions of the Komala Party were relocated from Zirgwez in the Kurdistan Region to a new camp in the Sordash area.

In continuation of its repressive policies, the Islamic Republic escalated its pressure on Kurdish activists and civilians within the country, while also resuming missile attacks on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This year saw the implementation of the first phase of a trilateral security agreement between Iran, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region, under which several families of members from various factions of the Komala Party were relocated from Zirgwez in the Kurdistan Region to a new camp in the Sordash area. Meanwhile, as tensions between the Islamic Republic and Israel flared, four Kurdish civilians were sentenced to death on charges of “espionage for Israel”.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has intensified its militarisation project in Kurdistan since 2007, continued constructing military bases and roads in the mountainous regions of Shaho and Kusalan in Kurdistan Province throughout the year.

On the second anniversary of the Women, Life, Freedom uprising and the state-sponsored killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, Kurdish parties and various organisations issued calls for action. In response, shopkeepers and local businesses in several Kurdish cities went on strike. Despite efforts by the Iranian security apparatus to suppress these strikes through threats, intimidation, and the summoning of shopkeepers, businessmen and civil rights activist, widespread strikes were observed across much of Kurdistan on 15 September 2024, as documented in videos and images shared online.

According to official statistics, the provinces of Kurdistan, Ilam, and Kermanshah continue to suffer from the highest levels of poverty and deprivation in the country. A large portion of the population in these areas—especially those living near the borders—has turned to kolbari due to the lack of proper industrial and commercial infrastructure. Rather than offering economic solutions or creating alternative employment opportunities, the government continues to suppress and systematically kill kolbars through violent policies.

In 1403, at least 514 Kurdish civilians and activists were arrested for political reasons by security forces or judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamadan, Tehran, and Razavi Khorasan. The highest number of arrests took place in the cities of Oshnavieh, Piranshahr, and Bukan in West Azerbaijan Province.

Among those arrested were 10 children, five Sunni clerics and activists, seven Yarsan civilians and activists, and 18 members of dadkhah families whose loved ones have been killed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Although some detainees have been released on bail after a period of detention, others remain in custody, and some have been transferred to prison to serve their sentences.

During this period, at least 93 Kurdish civilians and activists were sentenced on political charges by Islamic Revolutionary and Criminal Courts in various provinces. The sentences issued or upheld by appellate courts and the Supreme Court include the death penalty, custodial and suspended prison sentences, flogging, exile, and financial penalties, among others.

The highest number of sentences were handed down by the Criminal and Revolutionary Courts of West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan provinces.

Currently, 10 Kurdish political activists and civilians are imprisoned under death sentences, while at least eight others face the imminent risk of receiving capital punishment. Some of these individuals were arrested during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising and have been subjected to grossly unfair conditions, including denial of legal representation, severe physical and psychological torture, and unfair trials resulting in the inhumane death penalty.

Families of these prisoners and human rights organisations have warned of the critical situation they face, the danger of execution orders being upheld, and the risk of imminent enforcement of the issued death sentences, calling for the immediate revocation of these rulings and urgent international attention to their plight.

Seven Kurdish political and religious prisoners – Pakhshan Azizi, Verisheh Moradi (Wirishe Moradi), Hatem Ozdemir, Yousef Ahmadi, Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh and Pezhman Soltani – have already been sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Courts in Tehran, Orumiyeh, and Sanandaj on charges of “armed insurrection” (baghi), “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “murder”. They are currently detained in Orumiyeh Central Prison, Sanandaj Central Prison, Evin Prison, and Ghezel Hesar Prison.

The cases of Verisheh Moradi and Mehrab Abdollahzadeh have been referred to the Supreme Court for appeal following objections to their sentences and are awaiting further review. However, the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi, Hatem Ozdemir, Yousef Ahmadi, and Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh have been upheld by the Supreme Court, and their execution is imminent.

Additionally, three other Kurdish civilians – Azad Shojaei, Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul and Edris Ali – have been sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh on charges of “espionage for Israel”. They are currently held in Orumiyeh Central Prison, with their cases under special review by the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, at least seven other Kurdish civilians and activists – Ali Ghassemi, Kaveh Salehi, Rizgar Beigzadeh Baba-Miri, Javanmard Mam-Khosravi, Mohammad Faraji, Rauf Sheikh-Maroufi, and Soleiman Adhami – are being held in the central prisons of Orumiyeh and Bukan. Most were arrested by security forces in Sanandaj and Bukan during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising.

These detainees face severe charges, including “armed insurrection” (baghi), “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel-arz), and “enmity against God” (moharebeh), as cited in the indictments against them. Their cases have raised grave concerns about the likelihood of death sentences being issued against them.

The KHRN has documented and confirmed the execution of 121 prisoners in various prisons across the country in the year 1403. The highest number of executions took place in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Orumiyeh Central Prison, and Kermanshah Prison.

Of these, 64 individuals were executed for drug-related offences, 48 for “premeditated murder”, and four for “rape.”

Additionally, this year saw the execution of three Kurdish political and religious prisoners – Anvar Khezri, Khosrow Besharat, and Kamran Sheikheh – on charges of “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel-arz), as well as Reza Rasaei, a Kurdish Yarsani civilian arrested during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, who was executed on charges of “complicity in the murder” of a security official.

In the past year, at least 39 Kurdish kolbars died in the border regions of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan provinces. Of these, 27 were shot dead by Iranian military forces, while two died after falling from heights or drowning in rivers during pursuits by these forces. Additionally, four individuals (including one child) succumbed to frostbite, three died from falls, one was killed in an avalanche, and two suffered fatal heart attacks while carrying goods across the border.

The deadliest areas for kolbars in this period were the border regions of Baneh in Kurdistan Province and Paveh in Kermanshah Province, each recording 10 deaths, followed by Sardasht in West Azerbaijan Province, where eight kolbars lost their lives.

During this period, at least 110 kolbars – including three children – were injured in the border regions of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah provinces. Of these, 98 sustained injuries from gunfire or physical assaults by Iranian military forces and two were injured during pursuits by these forces.

Additionally, seven were injured due to falls from heights, and three suffered amputations or severe injuries caused by landmine explosions. Paveh, Baneh, and Sardasht remained among the most dangerous border regions for kolbars.

At least 22 Kurdish women were victims of femicide in 1403, including three children aged seven, 16, and 17. In one case, a two-year-old child also died with her mother. Additionally, two others were victims of “child marriage”.

In most cases, the perpetrators were male relatives of the victims: 13 women were killed by their husbands, six by their fathers, two by suitors, and a seven-year-old child was murdered by her friend’s brother. In one case, the perpetrator took his own life after committing the murder.

The methods of killing included seven cases of gunshot, seven of stabbing, three cases of deliberate burning, two cases of head trauma, one case of suffocation, one case of forced drowning, and, in the case of the seven-year-old child, death by burning and forced drug ingestion following sexual assault.

By provincial breakdown, seven women were killed in Ilam Province, five in Kermanshah Province, four in Kurdistan Province, four in West Azerbaijan Province, one in North Khorasan Province, and one woman from Ilam was murdered in Hormozgan Province.

In the past year, at least 12 Kurdish civilians were killed by Iranian and Turkish military forces in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Tehran. Of these, seven were shot by Iranian law enforcement, three were killed by Iranian border guards, and two lost their lives in a drone strike by the Turkish military.

In 1403, at least two Kurdish prisoners lost their lives in custody. Kianoush Valad-Beigi, accused of offences related to drug trafficking, died in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on 8 May 2024 due to medical neglect and delays in being transferred to a hospital.

Kamran Kazemi, another Kurdish detainee who was being held on theft charges at the Criminal Investigation Department detention centre in Orumiyeh, died in March 2025. While officials from this law enforcement agency have claimed that he committed suicide, several detainees who were held alongside him have asserted that he died as a result of torture by officers at the detention centre.

In the past year, at least five people lost their lives due to landmine explosions in the provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah, West Azerbaijan, and Kurdistan. At least eight others suffered severe injuries or amputations.

Some of these landmines and explosive remnants of war date back to the Iran-Iraq War and the Islamic Republic’s military campaigns in Kurdistan during the 1980s. Others have been planted in recent years during military exercises by the Islamic Republic or as part of measures aimed at countering the presence of Kurdish opposition parties in these regions.

In 2024, at least 13 Kurdish asylum seekers lost their lives while attempting to reach Western European countries. Eleven of these individuals perished in a boat sinking incident in Italian waters, while two others were killed in a shooting by an attacker at a refugee camp in Dunkirk, northern France.

Several clashes occurred between the IRGC and Kurdish opposition parties in different parts of Iranian Kurdistan in the past year:

• 9 July 2024: IRGC forces engaged members of a Kurdish party in the village of Tajandareh in Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan Province. At least one individual was killed, and another was wounded and detained.
• 19 September 2024: Rebwar Karimian, a military commander of the Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan, was killed in an IRGC ambush near the village of Piran-e Kohneh in Marivan, Kurdistan Province.
• 22 October 2024: During a clash between the IRGC and members of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) in the village of Deyvaznav in Sarvabad, Kurdistan Province, an IRGC soldier, Mohammad Ahmadpour, was killed, and three others were injured.
• 30 October 2024: The IRGC announced the killing of a Kurdish party member and the detention of two others in a “complex operation.” PJAK confirmed that one of its members, Molan Rostami, was killed in the incident.

The sentences of amputating the four fingers of the right hands of Shahab Teimouri and Mehrdad Teimouri, two imprisoned brothers from Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermanshah Province, were carried out in Orumiyeh Central Prison. Following a brief hospitalisation, both were returned to the prison’s intake unit.

Currently, at least five other prisoners in Orumiyeh Central Prison – Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharifian, Mehdi Shahivand, Kasra Karami, and Morteza Esmaeilian – face the imminent risk of amputation sentences being enforced.

Esmaeil Karimi, an environmental activist and employee of the Kamyaran Natural Resources Department, sustained severe burns while fighting a wildfire in the Kanishah pastures of Kamyaran. Tragically, he succumbed to his injuries, having suffered burns over 80% of his body, on 24 July 2024 in hospital.