Ahmad Moghadam and Saeed Almasi Executed in Hamedan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Hamedan Central Prison in on 18 July. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Ahmad Moghadam and 40-year-old Saeed Almasi (pictured). They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Ahmad Moghadam was from Tabriz and had one child. He was arrested four years ago and sentenced to death. Saeed Almasi was from Harsin in Kermanshah and also had one child. He’d been arrested and sentenced to death seven years ago.”

At the time of writing, neither of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year for the past three years. At least 206 people were executed for drug-related charges in the first six months of 2023, a 126% rise compared to the same period in 2022 when 91 were executed. 40 people were executed in the same period in 2021.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions.