By Kim Barker, Whitney Shefte, Michael Anthony Adams, Oleksandra Mykolyshyn, Sutton Raphael and Rebecca Suner

June 10, 2026

The Islamic Republic of Iran has accelerated its executions of dissidents and activists, with the true number of victims likely obscured by the regime’s internet censorship and blackout.

Ever since the January uprisings against the regime, Tehran has enforced a bloody clampdown against its opponents.

The Iran Human Rights Society has documented 784 executions so far in 2026. A representative from the organization told Fox News Digital that “these figures indicate a rapidly accelerating trend in executions since March,” and explained that “in particular, the execution of political prisoners has reached a level not seen in the past 37 years.”

‘KILLING OFF THE COUNTRY’: IRAN EXECUTES DOZENS, ARRESTS 4,000+ IN WAR CRACKDOWN

A State Department official told Fox News Digital that “we are aware of disturbing reports about the recent surge in executions in Iran.” The official noted that “we strongly condemn the Iranian regime’s use of executions to punish people for exercising basic human rights, including Iranians peacefully protesting for a better life.”

The official said that “for decades, Iranians have been subjected to torture and sham trials resulting in executions and severe punishments, often with coerced confessions as the only evidence presented against them.”

According to information provided to Fox News Digital by the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on June 4, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed at least 18 prisoners between May 31 and June 1. These included 12 prisoners hanged on May 31, and an additional six prisoners executed on June 1, one of whom was said to be “hanged in public with utmost brutality.”

IRAN REGIME USES WAR TO MASK ‘BRUTAL’ EXECUTION SURGE AGAINST POLITICAL OPPONENTS

The NCRI has counted a total of 32 executions between March 19 and June 1. These included eight members of Iranian dissident organization People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOE/MEK) and 24 participants in Iran’s January 2026 protests.

In documents provided to Fox News Digital, the NCRI said on June 7 that there was “an imminent risk of execution” for five political prisoners in the Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, four of whom were sentenced to death because they were charged with being members of PMOI/MEK.

Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, posted on X a call for “urgent action” from the U.N. “to prevent the execution.”

Days earlier on June 2, following two other executions against January protesters, Rajavi said on X that the “clerical regime has committed another horrific crime in Iran.” She called on the U.N. Security Council and European Union “to decisively condemn these criminal executions and take effective action to stop the killing of political prisoners and protesters in Iran.”

The Iran Human Rights Society echoed NCRI’s account of 18 recent executions between May 31 and June 1. Their representative explained that despite the internet blackout, they receive reports from “a network of prison sources, prisoners’ families, lawyers, and local contacts” and explained that “all reports are reviewed and cross-checked through multiple independent sources before publication.” Though they say “internet restrictions make documentation more difficult,” they stated they “continue to receive, verify, and document information.”

IRAN GOES DARK AS REGIME UNLEASHES FORCE, CYBER TOOLS TO CRUSH PROTESTS

Alp Toker, the director of NetBlocks, a global internet monitor, told Fox News Digital that “internet connectivity in Iran is largely restored but the service that is available remains limited compared to the state of things before the protests and the war this year. For most users, in practice, that means international access is slow with indications of throttling and there’s also increased filtering, particularly targeting messaging apps.

“It’s been in this limbo state since the restoration with no significant change for better or worse,” he said.

However, the Iran Human Rights Society representative noted that the actual number of executions is “almost certainly” higher than the figure they have captured. “The ruling authorities in Iran frequently carry out executions in secret and do not publicly announce many of them,” the representative explained. Additionally, the representative added that “a significant number of executions, particularly in remote areas or locations with limited access to information, may remain undocumented or reach us only after a considerable delay.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The representative also noted that the quantity of executions the Iran Human Rights Society documents “has consistently been lower than the actual number carried out.”

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Mai Sato, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the increased executions in Iran.

On June 20th, up to 100,000 Iranian expats from both sides of the Atlantic are expected to hold a major rally in Paris to urge an end to the executions. More than 100 lawmakers, officials, former heads of state and ministers are also expected to join, according to the NCRI.

The murder of an 11-year-old French schoolgirl has sparked outrage at the country’s judicial system after it emerged that authorities had failed to fully investigate the suspected killer about previous allegations of child sexual abuse.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The girl, named in the press only as Lyhanna, went missing on 29 May near the southwestern town of Fleurance after she was last seen getting into a man’s car.

After days of searching, investigators found the body of a child wearing the same clothes as Lyhanna in an abandoned silo in the nearby village of Puycasquier on 4 June.

A 41-year-old father of two, whose daughter was a school friend of Lyhanna, has been arrested as the main suspect. He had been named in four separate cases involving young girls in recent years, but they were never properly investigated, leading to public outcry and President Emmanuel Macron to blast the “unacceptable” lapses in the justice system.

The news has prompted criticism of under-investment and a lack of resources in the French judiciary.

According to the Council of Europe, France had around 11 professional judges per 100,000 people in 2022 — significantly less than the European average of 22.

How does the rest of Europe compare?

The EU has seen an almost 12% decrease in the number of professional judges between 2024 and 2019, with 2024 recording 70,348 professional judges, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

Eastern European countries traditionally have a high number of judges and non-judge staff per capita, which the Council of Europe attributes to their being largely influenced by Germanic law.

This type of law is highly inquisitorial, where judges actively direct proceedings, question witnesses and order evidence, meaning individual cases require more time and need a much larger bench.

Countries with Germanic law traditions also tend to have hyper-specialised courts, made up of different levels and comprised of panels of judges, rather than just a single person presiding.

In the EU, Croatia (42.4), Slovenia (40.7), and Greece (37.3) had the highest number of professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022.

When expanding to look at the whole of Europe, Monaco emerged as the country with the most professional judges, going by the same metric, at more than 102. Montenegro came next, tied with Croatia at 42.4.

In contrast, the countries of Western and Southern Europe, whose legal systems are based on Nordic law, common law, or Napoleonic law, have fewer professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants.

While Napoleonic law countries are also inquisitorial, they are not quite as divided into separate branches as Germanic courts traditionally have been, meaning less manpower is required.

Common law countries, meanwhile, use an adversarial system, where judges act more as passive umpires who rule on points of law and ensure fair play. As they do not direct the investigation themselves, fewer judges are needed.

Ireland (3.3), Denmark (6.5), and Malta (9) were the EU countries with the fewest judges per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022.

In wider Europe, this falls mostly to the countries of the UK: England and Wales have fewer than three judges, going by the same metric, followed by Scotland (3.6) and Northern Ireland (3.7).

The disparity in numbers can be explained to some extent by the diversity of European judicial organisations and legal systems. For instance, the low number of professional judges per inhabitant in the UK can be explained by the significant number of cases that fall under the jurisdiction of its Magistrates’ Courts, which are made up of non-professional judges, the Council of Europe said.

Furthermore, with judicial systems under severe strain across the continent, countries such as Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania have adopted measures to address the decline in the number of applicants to the judiciary observed in recent years by increasing wages or improving working conditions.

As for France, in the wake of the tragedy of Lyhanna, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has instructed all state prosecutors to review 70,000 ongoing cases of violence against minors by 14 July and to treat them as an “absolute priority”.