1. International Mechanism Submission
2. Iran’s Compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Iran’s Compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Date: November 14, 2025
Country: Iran, Islamic Republic of
Partners: Iran Human Rights
Issues: Children's Rights
Mechanism: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Report Type: List of Issues

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This report addresses Iran's failure to comply with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since the Committee on the Rights of the Child last reviewed Iran in 2016, Iran has not abolished the death penalty for juvenile offenders, continues to execute juvenile offenders who commit hudud (fixed in measure, degree, and method) or qisas (retribution-in-kind for murder) crimes, and has not commuted existing death sentences for juvenile offenders. As Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) has documented, Iran is the "only country to [have executed] juvenile offenders every single year for the last 10 years." Iranian authorities also continue to execute people in public, including in the presence of children.

Iranian authorities are executing people at an escalating rate. In 2024, they executed the largest number of people in more than 20 years. Iranian authorities executed at least 975 people, a 17% increase over the 834 executions recorded in 2023. Iran executed one confirmed juvenile offender in 2024, and civil society organizations are investigating three more possible executions of juvenile offenders in that year. To date in 2025, IHRNGO has documented 1,342 executions, and is investigating additional cases in which Iranian authorities executed a person who may have been under age 18 at the time of the offense.

The co-authors compiled this report using information from both official and unofficial sources. Official executions are those announced by the Iranian judiciary, police, National Broadcasting Network, or news agencies. In 2025, official sources have announced just 7% of all executions, marking a decline in transparency, as that figure was 10% in 2024, and 15% in 2023. Unofficial reports come from eyewitnesses, family members, lawyers, and others in the Iranian judiciary and prison system.