4 Men Executed in Tabriz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were executed in Tabriz Central Prison 2nd May. Three of the men were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. Their identities have been established Mohammad Rasoul Khoshkar and Saeed Ranjdoust, both 53, and Saber Aminabadi.

The fourth executed man was on death row for drug-related charges. His identity has been established as 40-year-old Mehdi Habibi.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Mohammad Rasoul Khoshkar was arrested for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl and received the death penalty for both charges. But as the victim’s family were present at the execution, it appears that the qisas sentence was carried out.”

“Saeed Ranjdoust was arrested for murder around five years ago and sentenced to qisas. He was carpet weaver from Tabriz with three young children and also took care of two orphans. Saber Aminabadi was arrested for an honour killing three years ago. Mehdi Habibi was arrested for drug charges three years ago.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”