Maziar Soltanzadeh and Mohammad Safari Executed for Drug Charges

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Karaj Penitentiary on February 28. Their names have been established as Maziar Soltanzadeh (photo) and Mohammad Safari. They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Maziar Soltanzadeh was from the Azimieh neighbourhood of Karaj and had been arrested for charges of carrying 14 kilograms of narcotics over four years ago. He was one of the prisoners injured during the prison riot.”

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.