At Least 4 Men Including 2 Afghans Executed in Ghezelhesar Prison

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least four men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 24th November. They all appear to have been on death row for drug-related offences.

The identities of the two Afghan nationals have not been established at the time of writing. Two of the men have been identified as 25-year-old Moslem Jafari (photo) who was the father of a young child and 45-year-old Hossein Souri.

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.”