Asghar Hajizadeh and Kaveh Bashangeh Executed for Drug Offences in Salmas

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Salmas Prison on 18 May. Their identities have been established as Asghar Hajizadeh and Kaveh Bashangeh who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Courts.

Asghar Hajizadeh was from Salmas and had spent five years on death row. Kaveh Bashangeh was from Mahabad and arrested four 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 since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”