How many has Iran executed this year? The number is chilling

A special report published by two human rights organizations that specialize in studying executions around the world reveals that Iran has broken an international record, executing the most civilians in a year since they began counting, most of whom were political prisoners.

Iran has executed at least 975 people over the past year, according to European human rights groups, the IHR and the French organization Together Against Executions.

The report jointly published by the two organizations reveals that this is a record-breaking, and that such numbers have never been recorded since the beginning of the surveillance in 2008.

In a special statement, the members of the organizations said: "In Iran, a dangerous and shocking escalation is taking place, and the Islamic Republic is using executions as a tool of deterrence and political repression."

According to the monitoring organizations, at least five people have been executed every day in Iran for the past three months, with at least 80 percent of them being "politically motivated executions."

According to the organization's monitoring data, over the past few years, Iran has dramatically increased the use of the death penalty, making it an increasingly central tool in its activities against opponents of the regime.

Last year, Iran executed "only" 834 civilians and about 750 civilians the year before. According to the data, this is a 20 percent increase in executions every year for the past 40 years.