Mehdi Nasiri and Abbas Ketabi Executed in Qom

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least two men were executed in Qom Central Prison on 9 December. Their identities have been established as 41-year-old Mehdi Nasiri from Karaj and 47-year-old Abbas Ketabi (pictured) from Qom.

Mehdi Nasiri was arrested for carrying 80 kilograms of heroin three years ago and Abbas Ketabi was arrested on the Qom-Arak road around five years ago. They were both sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

There are reports of more people being executed at the prison that day which Iran Human Rights is working to verify.

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. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.