UN rights office decries ‘alarmingly high’ number of executions in Iran: 29 over two days this week

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office is expressing concerns about reports that Iran has executed 29 people over two days this week. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk decried “an alarmingly high number” of executions in such a short period of time. His office said it verified 38 people were executed in July. That raises the total of executions to at least 345 this year — mostly for drug offenses or murder — including 15 women. The United Nations has had longstanding concerns about executions in Iran, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a report in November decrying the “alarming rate” of them in the Islamic Republic.