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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was alarmed by a sharp rise in executions in Iran since March 2026, reporting that 56 people had been put to death on national security-related charges. Of those, 27 were in cases linked to protests that swept the country in January. Türk's statement adds to international scrutiny of Tehran's use of capital punishment against demonstrators and those accused of security offences, following a period of domestic unrest. Rights monitors have warned that such trials frequently fall short of fair-trial standards, and the figures suggest the authorities are using executions as a deterrent in the aftermath of the protests.