Hossein Salehi and Morteza Seifzadeh Executed in Tabriz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Tabriz Central Prison on 3rd August. Their identities have been established as 30-year-old Hossein Salehi (right photo) and 37-year-old Morteza Seifzadeh (left photo) who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court in a joint case.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Hossein and Morteza were arrested for carrying around 90kg of methamphetamines and heroine and sentenced to death in a joint case. Morteza Seifzadeh was a father of one and was a bus driver between Tehran and Tabriz. Hossein Salehi was from Hashtroud.”

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. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

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.”