Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on May 5, 2023 that over the previous week, at least 45 people were executed in Iran, 29 for drug-related charges and 15 for murder.

Most of these executions have not been announced by official sources or media inside Iran. HRANA largely compiles its information from on-the-ground reports, and there may have been even more executions in secret. Comparing the executions to the same period last year, with no executions, HRANA noted this "shows the exponential growth of executions in Iran", which already has the highest per capita death penalty rate in the world

In addition, last week 19 prisoners previously sentenced to death on drug and murder charges were moved into solitary cells, possibly signaling their imminent executions.