Peyman Soleimani, Aziz Yarhashemi and Shahram Kakavand Executed for Drug Offences in Karaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were executed in Karaj Penitentiary on September 6. Their identities have been established as 48-year-old Peyman Soleimani, Aziz Yarhashemi (pictured) and 35-year-old Shahram Kakavand who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Peyman Soleimani was a father of three and Shahram Kakavand had two children.

The three prisoners were transferred from Wards 3 and 4 to solitary confinement on September 4 in preparation for their executions. They said goodbye to their families the day prior to execution.

There are currently 80 men on death row for drug-related charges in Hall 4 of Karaj Penitentiary. This is a partial list of 36:

1. Esfandiar Shirian
2. Mohammadreza Heydari
3. Akbar Salimian Rizi
4. Reza Zaeri-Farhad
5. Ahmad Bechaghchi
6. Zeylan Alizadeh
7. Mostafa Hajipour
8. Hassan Ganji
9. Mohsen Sadeghi
10. Ali Nara Teimouri
11. Mehdi Doustdari
12. Amir Sharafi
13. Mohammadreza Latifi
14. Baeed Deldar
15. Samad Hashemi
16. Hamid Ghalavar
17. Akbar Khalili
18. Abouzar Mohammadi
19. Ebrahim Ajali
20. Davoud Yousefi
21. Maziar Soltanzadeh
22. Mehdi Kamranifar
23. Farzad Nazari
24. Omid Shokri
25. Reza Shokri
26. Majid Khakvatan
27. Mohsen Babaei
28. Sabina Esmailnejad
29. Manouchehr Biranvand
30. Aziz Beck-Hassani
31. Milad Yari
32. Vahid Badakhsh
33. Mostafa Nasiri
34. Massoud Sasani
35. Jafar Chidlou
36. Abolfazl Forghaninejad

At the time of writing, neither execution has been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

According to reports compiled by Iran Human Rights, at least 126 people were executed on drug-related charges in 2021, a fivefold increase compared to drug executions in the previous three years. This trend has continued into 2022, with 91 executions recorded in the first six months of 2022, double the number for the same period in 2021 when 40 people were executed.

At least 251 including 6 women and 67 Baluch minorities were executed in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.