Morteza Shah Esmaili and Nasim Narouyi Executed in Yazd

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men including a Baluch minority were executed in Yazd Central Prison on 19 September. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Morteza Shah Esmaili and 50-year-old Nasim Narouyi (Menan Barahouyi), a Baluch man from Zabol. Both men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Nasim Narouyi was arrested five years ago and Morteza Shah Esmaili two years ago. Morteza was transferred from Ardakan prison to Yazd Central Prison ten days prior to execution.”

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.”