2 Men Executed in Meshgin Shahr; 70 Awaiting Gallows in 2 Ardabil Prisons

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Meshgin Shahr Prison in Ardabil province on 29 December. His identity has been established as 28-year-old Asgar Abdolah Parikhani (photo) from Meshgin. He was arrested four years ago.

Another man identified as 30-year-old Abbas Faraj Oughli from Mesghin Shahr was also executed at the prison on 25 December. He was on death row for three years.

Both men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “70 prisoners in Meshgin Shahr and Ardabil prisoners have confirmed drug death sentences and will be executed soon.”

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

On 21 December, IHRNGO warned of more drug executions being carried out after an Iranian MP from Lorestan province stated that the cases of 1000-2000 drug death row inmates were at implementation stage.

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.