Jamil Abodllahzadeh and Mehran Amiri Executed in Qazvin

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Qazvin Central Prison on 21 August. Their identities have been established as 41-year-old Jamil Abdollahzadeh and 45-year-old Mehran Amiri. Jamil was a father of one.

Informed sources told Iran Human Rights that the two men were arrested for being in possession of 100 kilograms of methamphetamine on the Qazvin-Zanjan motorway around three years ago.

At the time of writing, their executions have not 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.