Link to article: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/un-says-dozens-women-900-people-iran-executed-2024-rcna186743
This year the U.N. has reported nine-hundred and one executions of Iranian citizens in 2024, over 30 of which were women and many others were their own Kurdish citizens. Political dissidents and people connected with the 2022 mass protests over a 22-year-old woman’s death in police custody were also among those who were hung by the state. The U.N.’s human rights office stated that some of the women were convicted of murdering their husbands to fend off rape after forced marriages. Others were executed for allegedly flouting Iran’s mandatory dress code. The tremendous number of executions is the largest amount since 2015. However, Masoud Pezeshkian was elected in July of 2024 and had made promises during the campaign to better protect the rights of women and minorities. It seems that he has made little to no progress on his promises.
Back in 2015, Iran executed roughly 834 people, among those executed in Iran were also members of ethnic and religious minorities convicted of “enmity against God” and “corruption on earth” including Kurdish political prisoners and Sunni Muslims. I believe that human rights organizations around the world will be in uproar against Iran’s actions. This shows the country weakening and having to fend off all those who push back against the government. And with Iran’s failing regime, it is important that they keep these protesters and rebellions silenced. With the uptick in protests and citizens standing against their government shows the clear signs of a dying regime.
This could lead to a new government and a new political situation for Iran; their oil could now be sold elsewhere as opposed to their main buyer which is China. Oil is the main export from Iran and if that gets disrupted by an internal conflict then it will affect their customers and their energy/economy. China buys on average about 1.05 million barrels of oil per day from Iran, making them one of Iran’s top customers.
This situation has an important geopolitical side. If Iran goes through internal turmoil it will affect those who depend on the country for energy. It will mainly affect China as they switched to petroleum gas to veer away from coal. This could lead to trouble with China’s economy, potentially weakening the country. Though it is likely they would buy more from Russia, which would increase the Russian war fund against Ukraine.