At a briefing at UN headquarters in New York, Commission Chairwoman Sarah Hossain said the situation in the country had deteriorated after the strikes, which reportedly killed more than 1,000 people.
According to the Iranian government, 38 children and 102 women were among the 276 civilian casualties; more than 5,600 others were injured. Civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities and schools, were damaged. The government also reported that Tehran’s notorious Evin prison was hit without warning: some 80 people, including prisoners, their relatives (the attack occurred during visiting hours), staff and at least one child, were killed. The prison held around 1,500 people at the time, including many human rights defenders and activists.
Hossain also expressed alarm at Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks on Israel, which Iranian authorities say have killed 31 people and injured more than 3,300.
“Systematic attacks on civilians.”
Hossain said the aftermath of the strikes has led to new internal repression by the Iranian government, further undermining respect for the right to life.
A commission appointed by the UN Human Rights Council has documented the arrests of thousands of people, including lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and those who have voiced opinions about the conflict on social media.
This year, the number of executions in Iran reached the highest level since 2015. Most death penalty cases, according to the Commission, contravene international human rights law. A law was passed expanding the use of the death penalty on charges of “espionage” and criminalising the publication on social media of information deemed “false” by authorities.
“If executions are part of a widespread and systematic repression of civilians as a matter of state policy, those responsible – including judges who impose the death penalty – can be held accountable for crimes against humanity,” said commission expert Max du Plessis.
The recent crackdown has also affected ethnic and religious minorities, with more than 330 Kurds and large numbers of Arabs arrested and hundreds of thousands of Afghans deported. Members of the Bahai religious minority have been accused of “Zionist espionage”, their homes have been searched and their property confiscated.
Impunity for “honour killings”
The Commission reported persistent cases of grave forms of violence, including “honour” killings of women and girls. Between March and September 2025, 60 such cases were reported. These offences, like other forms of gender-based violence, go unpunished.
There are also reports of the closure of businesses catering to women who refuse to comply with mandatory hijab regulations and increased surveillance. There are reports of the return of “vice police” to the streets.
The Commission has documented an increase in transnational repression, including interrogations, threats and surveillance of Iranian journalists’ families abroad. Credible information shows that more than 45 media workers in seven countries have faced serious threats.
“Denial of justice is not a neutral act,” Hossain said. – “Failure to fulfil duties of justice only prolongs the suffering of victims and undermines a state’s obligations under international human rights law – to provide accountability, truth, justice and reparation.
“Rights to life and liberty under unprecedented threat”
In a report to the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, condemned the Israeli and US strikes as an unlawful use of force in violation of the UN Charter and expressed deep concern that the end of hostilities has not brought relief to Iranians.
“External aggression has fuelled internal repression,” Sato said. – The Iranian people’s rights to life and liberty are under unprecedented threat.”
She characterised the rise in executions as a deliberate policy of intimidation and retribution, noting that many sentences were handed down after unfair trials or on vague charges of threatening national security.
The Rapporteur also pointed to the increasing practice of transnational repression, with Iranian authorities targeting opposition figures abroad through intimidation, surveillance and threats, and called on UN Member States to support vulnerable members of Iranian civil society and harmonise efforts to counter transnational repression.