Iran has executed a 52-year-old woman, Zahra Fotouhi, who was convicted of killing her ex-husband despite claims that she had suffered years of abuse.
Zahra was hanged at dawn on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, inside Tabriz Central Prison.
She had been in custody for five years after being accused of killing her ex-husband, a man advocacy groups described as abusive and controlling.
According to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Zahra had been sentenced to death shortly after her arrest.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Women’s Committee condemned the execution.
It said many women executed in Iran act in self-defense against violent partners but are denied fair trials.
“She was a victim of domestic violence and harassment,” the group stated.
Zahra’s death brings the number of women executed in Iran this year to 35. Human rights monitors report that at least 298 women have been executed since 2007.
Alarmingly, the pace has accelerated under President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July 2024.
In the Iranian calendar year 1403, at least 38 women were executed an increase of nearly 90% compared to the previous year.
Overall, more than 1,750 executions have taken place since Pezeshkian assumed power, with over 1,000 recorded in 2024 alone.
Just days before Zahra’s hanging, another case shocked rights advocates. On September 11, Iranian authorities executed Afghan national Hadiqeh Abadi in Qazvin Prison alongside her husband, Younes Mazaarshams. Hadiqeh, a mother of three, had lived in Iran for two decades.
She and her husband were convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to death after four years in detention.
Before the execution, their children were separated and handed over to Afghan officials.
Rights organizations have accused Iran’s judiciary of ignoring the context behind crimes, especially in cases involving domestic abuse. Forced confessions and lack of proper legal defense remain widespread.
“The regime’s judicial system is deeply flawed,” one rights monitor said. “It punishes victims rather than addressing the violence and discrimination they face.”
The NCRI Women’s Committee argues that women like Zahra are often trapped in marriages where divorce rights heavily favor men, leaving them vulnerable to abuse.
When these women retaliate or attempt to defend themselves, they face the harshest punishment under Iranian law.
International observers warn that Iran’s rising execution rate reflects broader repression.
Many executions target women, minorities, and political dissidents.
The United Nations and rights groups have called on Tehran to halt capital punishment, stressing that it violates international human rights standards.
As outrage grows, Zahra’s case has become another symbol of what activists describe as a “misogynistic clerical regime” that prioritizes control over justice.
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