Iran denies that confessions are extracted under torture.

The law also trims the number of offences punishable by death, and abolishes natural-life prison sentences.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International says three young people sentenced to death over protests – the youngest aged just 18 – have been subjected to 'gruesome torture' in detention.

Demonstrations have swept Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, after her arrest in Tehran for allegedly failing to adhere to the dress rules which demand women wear hijab headscarves.

The report did not provide details about the mode of executions, but the wealthy Gulf kingdom has often administered death sentences by beheading.

Asean should state explicitly that executing dissenters is the ultimate act of violence and that it expects Myanmar to desist from such behaviour immediately.

It says the men were given due process and insists those executed were not democracy activists, but killers deserving of their punishment.

While 260 individuals were executed in 2020, at least 310 individuals were executed in 2021, including at least 14 women, the UN says.

The junta has sentenced dozens of anti-coup activists to death as part of its crackdown on dissent after seizing power last year, but Myanmar has not carried out an execution for decades.

At least 333 people were executed in 2021, a 25% increase compared to 267 in 2020, says the report, based on official media but also sources inside Iran.

The UN rights office voices alarm at the case of Pausi Jefridin and Roslan Bakar, who were both arrested in 2008 and convicted two years later on drug trafficking charges.

North Korean escapees say executions were carried out at closely monitored sites with authorities keeping a close eye to ensure no information gets out, according to the Transitional Justice Working Group.