Baluch Hadi Arbabi and Mohammad Eshagh Executed for Drug Charges

According to Hal Vash, two Baluch men were executed in Zahedan Central Prison on February 27. Their names have been reported as Hadi Arbabi (Gorgij) and Mohammad Eshagh (Gorgij), both Zahedan natives. They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Informed sources told Hal Vash: “Hadi and Ahmed were arrested over four years ago along with several members of the military and Basiji forces, including the IRGC commander of Nomadic Security, on drug-related charges. The charges against the armed forces were dropped due to their connections and they all returned to work. However, the two Baluch citizens who were arrested two months prior to the others, were sentenced to death which was carried out today.”

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On January 27, Iran Human Rights warned of the high number of drug executions currently being carried out in Iran. Of the 66 executions carried out in January, at least 43 (65%) people were executed for drug-related charges, none of which were officially announced.

Drug executions dramatically dropped between 2018-2020 following the Amendment to the Anti-Drug Laws in 2017. However, this reversed in practice in 2021 when numbers increased by five-fold and have continued to rise throughout 2022 and 2023.