US Special Envoy: Iran Executed About 800 People in 2023

Iranian opposition protesters raise banners denouncing the death penalty in front of the European Parliament (File photo: EPA)
Iranian opposition protesters raise banners denouncing the death penalty in front of the European Parliament (File photo: EPA)
TT

US Special Envoy: Iran Executed About 800 People in 2023

Iranian opposition protesters raise banners denouncing the death penalty in front of the European Parliament (File photo: EPA)
Iranian opposition protesters raise banners denouncing the death penalty in front of the European Parliament (File photo: EPA)

The Iranian government executed nearly 800 citizens in 2023, many following unfair trials and arbitrary detentions, US Special Envoy to Iran Abram Paley has announced.

"The Iranian government's cruelty reached new levels in 2023 with the execution of nearly 800 of its citizens, many following unfair trials and arbitrary detentions,” Paley wrote on his X account.

He pointed out that death sentences are often applied after sham trials against defendants who lacked adequate legal counsel.

"The US strongly condemns Iran's use of the death penalty to target the exercise of human rights," he asserted.

Meanwhile, the Iranian opposition launched a campaign to stop the execution of six people facing political and security charges, including four political Kurdish prisoners and two arrested during last year's protests.

Persian-speaking media abroad reported that the families of the six prisoners organized a protest in front of Evin Prison following the approval of the death sentences.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization appealed to international organizations to intervene to stop the executions.

The Organization's director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said that like many other prisoners sentenced to death, they did not enjoy the minimum standards of fair procedures.

Amiry-Moghaddam stated that the sentences are illegal even under the laws of Iran.

Last week, Paley condemned the death sentences against the four political prisoners.

"The Iranian regime continues to use false accusations, forced confessions, and unfair trials to silence political opponents and peaceful protestors. We call on Iranian authorities to release all unjustly detained political prisoners and stop repressing their people."

The US official's reference precedes an annual report issued by the Iran Human Rights Organization on the number of executions that were documented over the course of a year.

The Organization, which is responsible for monitoring executions, warned many times last year that a record number of executions would be exceeded.

According to the Organization, the authorities have executed 7,858 people since 2010, including 70 minors and 209 women.

In turn, the Human Rights Activists Agency in Iran (Hrana) said that at least 746 people were executed in Iran during 2023, representing a 32 percent increase compared to 2022.



Trump Urges Supporters to Deliver Victory in Return to Scene of 1st Assassination Attempt

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.   (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)
BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)
TT

Trump Urges Supporters to Deliver Victory in Return to Scene of 1st Assassination Attempt

BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.   (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)
BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds on October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)

Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he was nearly assassinated in July, urging a large crowd to deliver an Election Day victory that he tied to his survival of the shooting.
The former president and Republican nominee picked up where he left off in July when a gunman’s bullet struck his ear. He began his speech with, “As I was saying,” and gestured toward an immigration chart he was looking at when the gunfire began.
“Twelve weeks ago, we all took a bullet for America,” Trump said. “All we are all asking is that everyone goes out and votes. We got to win. We can’t let this happen to our country.”
The Trump campaign worked to maximize the event’s headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go and voting already underway in some states in his race against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Musician Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and serenaded him with “God Bless the USA,” frequently played at his rallies, and billionaire Elon Musk spoke for the first time at a Trump rally.
“We fought together. We have endured together. We have pushed onward together,” Trump said. “And right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together. We’ve bled.”
At the beginning of the rally, Trump asked for a moment of silence to honor firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire in July. Classical singer Christopher Macchio sang “Ave Maria” after a bell rung at the same time that gunfire began on July 13. Several of Comperatore's family members were in attendance, including his widow, Helen, who stood during Trump's remarks next to the former president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
Standing behind protective glass that now encases the stage at his outdoor rallies, Trump called the would-be assassin “a vicious monster” and said he did not succeed “by the hand of providence and the grace of God,” The Associated Press reported. There was a very visible heightened security presence, with armed law enforcers in camouflage uniforms on roofs.
Trump honored Comperatore and recognized the two other July rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. They and Trump were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.
The building from which Crooks fired was completely obscured by tractor-trailers, a large grassy perimeter and a fence.
How Crooks managed to outmaneuver law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-president is among many questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive.
Pennsylvania is critical to both presidential campaigns Trump lost Pennsylvania four years ago after flipping it to the Republican column in 2016. He needs to drive up voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, rural-suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November after losing it four years ago. Harris, too, has targeted her campaign efforts at Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive outreach in critical swing states.

One of the most anticipated guests of the evening was Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly Twitter. Musk climbed onto the stage on Saturday jumping and pumping his fists in the air after Trump introduced him as a “great gentleman” and said he “saved free speech.”

“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” said Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt. “This is a must-win situation.”