Iran hangs 50 people this year

Iranian authorities have executed 55 people in 2023, Norway-based Iran Human Rights said Friday, adding that the surging use of the death penalty aims to create fear as protests shake the country.

Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International said three young people sentenced to death over protests — the youngest aged just 18 -- had been subjected to ‘gruesome torture’ in detention.

IHR said it has confirmed at least 55 executions in the first 26 days of this year.

Four people have been executed on charges related to the protests, while the majority of those hanged -- 37 convicts—were executed for drug-related offences, IHR said.