Nader Khosravi and Nasrollah Ayoubi Executed in Zanjan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were executed in Zanjan Central Prison on 5 June. Their identities have been established as 32-year-old Nader Khosravi and 27-year-old Nasrollah Ayoubi who were sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Nader Khosravi was from Qazvin and had been arrested for possession of 50kg of drugs in the Qazvin-Zanjan motorway three years ago. Nasrollah Ayoubi was an Arab father of a young child from Ahvaz and he was arrested two 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.”