Executions for Drug-related Charges in 2024

Facts and figures about drug-related executions in 2024

• At least 503 people were executed, representing a 6.6% rise compared to 2023 (471) and about 20 times the number of the drug-related executions recorded in 2020
• Only 15 drug-related executions were announced by official sources
• Executions took place in 27 different provinces
• Baluch minorities, who make up 2-6% of Iran’s population, are overrepresented with 85 executions (17%) compared to 31% (138) in 2023, 47% (121) in 2022 and 43% (55) in 2021
• 12 women were executed for drug-related offences

According to IHRNGO reports, an annual average of at least 403 people were executed for drug-related offences between 2010 and 2017. The diagram above shows the reduction in the number of drug-related executions observed in the three years following the Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Law at the end of 2017.

In 2024, drug-related executions were 19 times higher than the annual average of 2018-2020 (the three years following the Amendment) and 25% higher than the annual average of the drug-related executions in the 8 years prior to the Amendment.

Drug-related executions increased dramatically after 2020, and the number of drug-related executions in 2023 and 2024 were respectively 18 and 19 times higher than the annual average between 2018 and 2020.

Executions for drug-related offences were carried out every month of the year in 2024. The peak was reached in the last three months of the year, following the increased threat of war between Iran and Israel. 67% of the executions were carried out in the second half of the year.

In 2024, drug-related executions were carried out in 27 different provinces, an increase from 26 in 2023, 21 in 2022 and 15 in 2021. The highest number of drug-related executions were carried out in Alborz/Tehran provinces.

In 2024, IHRNGO reported drug-related executions in 27 provinces, compared to 26 in 2023, 21 in 2022, 15 in 2021, 12 in 2019 and 2020 and 7 provinces in 2018.

Executed for drug-related charges

The following are a very small sample of the people executed for drug-related charges in 2024.

Asef and Aref Eshaghzehi

Undocumented Baluch brothers, Asef Eshaghzehi, 30, and Aref Eshaghzehi, 24, were arrested in Birjand in 2022 and sentenced to death for drug-related offences. They were executed in Birjand Central Prison, South Khorasan province, on 28 January 2024 without their families being notified and the right to last visits.[1]

Fariborz Dadgar

Fariborz Dadgar was a 36-year-old tiler and father of one from Mahshahr arrested for carrying 1.8 kilograms of methamphetamine (shisheh). He was executed in Ahvaz Sepidar Prison, Khuzestan province, on 18 April 2024, 16 years after his father was executed for the same charges at the prison.[2]

Parviz Narouyi

Parviz Narouyi (Mir Baluchzehi), a 46-year-old Baluch man, was arrested for drug-related offences in 2021 and sentenced to death. His execution was postponed after he “suffered a stroke and paralysis”. After recovery, he was executed in Kahnuj Prison, Kerman province, on 1 September 2024.[3]

Bahman Sheikh Hosseini

Bahman Sheikh Hosseini was a 32-year-old Baluch father of three children. He was arrested for drug-related charges in 2020 and sentenced to death. Bahman attempted to commit suicide prior to his execution. Yet, they still hanged him in that state in Birjand Central Prison, South Khorasan province, on 20 October 2024.[4]

Dramatic increase in drug-related executions: The UNODC maintains silence on executions and continues its cooperation

The last Amendment to Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Law came into force on 14 November 2017, leading to a significant drop in the number of drug-related executions, from an annual average of 403 to an average of 26 executions in the proceeding three years. The number of commuted death sentences as a result of this Amendment could be as high as 6,000, according to Islamic Republic lawmaker Hassan Norouzi.[5] However, this trend was reversed in 2021, and the number of drug-related executions have dramatically increased since. The number of drug-related executions in 2023 and 2024 were respectively more than 19 and 20 times higher than the number in 2020.

Iranian authorities introduced the 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Law mainly due to international pressure. Crucially, European states funding UNODC projects to combat illegal drugs in Iran were unwilling to fund any further projects due to the high number of drug-related executions.[6]

In the last three editions of the Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, IHRNGO and ECPM have expressed grave concern about the alarming rise in the number of drug-related executions and called on the UNODC to react.[7] However, not only has the UNODC failed to acknowledge this dramatic rise, in March 2023, the organisation signed a new agreement to enhance its cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran.[8] This cooperation includes a sub-programme on “Border management and illicit trafficking”, which aims to provide “technical training and support designed to upgrade and enhance the capacities and technical knowledge of law enforcement, Anti-Narcotic Police and Customs”.[9] Such support can lead to more arrests, convictions and executions.

Moreover, Iranian authorities use their cooperation with the UNODC as an argument to justify the execution of alleged drug offenders.[10] UNODC’s silence on the execution of hundreds annually, in addition to its support of Iran’s law enforcement and providing political legitimacy for executions, makes it complicit in the executions.

In a statement published on 10 April 2024, IHRNGO, ECPM and 82 other human rights 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”.[11]

However, the UNODC has continued its cooperation with the Islamic Republic without any public reference to the high number of drug-related executions. In December 2024, the UNODC, in coordination with the Drug Control Headquarters (DCHQ) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, organised a five-day specialised training on “Investigation of Crimes related to Drug Trafficking” for a group of senior police officers of the Iranian Anti-Narcotics Police in Tehran.[12]

Drug executions: Costless victims of the death penalty for political repression

Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a political tool of oppression and repression. Analysis by IHRNGO demonstrates a meaningful correlation between the number of executions and political events.[13] Following the outbreak of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests, officials publicly threatened protesters with the death penalty. However, the strong international backlash made the execution of protesters politically costly for the Islamic Republic. Since then, IHRNGO has observed a great increase in the number of drug-related executions, despite the Islamic Republic’s own repeated admission that the death penalty does not deter drug crimes.[14]

Thus, the authorities’ need to instil fear in society in order to prevent further protests is the most likely reason for the sharp increase in the number of drug-related executions. Drug offenders are predominantly from the most marginalised groups in society, and ethnic minorities – the Baluch in particular – are grossly overrepresented among those executed. This, together with the international community’s silence, and in part UNODC’s continued cooperation, makes the political cost of their execution very low. All drug-related offences are processed by the Revolutionary Courts. Reports collected by IHRNGO demonstrate that those arrested for drug-related offences are systematically subjected to torture in the weeks following their arrest. They often do not have access to a lawyer while in detention, and by the time a lawyer gains access to their case, they have already “confessed” to the crime.[15] Revolutionary Court trials are also typically very short, with lawyers often not even given a chance to present a defence for their clients. As such, the authorities can accuse anyone of drug-related offences and sentence them to death anytime they desire to do so.

[1] IHRNGO, Undocumented Baluch Brothers Asef and Aref Eshaghzehi Secretly Executed, 28 January 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6539/

[2] IHRNGO, Fariborz Dadgar Hanged 16 Years After Father’s Execution, 20 April 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6647/

[3] IHRNGO, Baluch Parviz Narouyi Executed in Kahnuj, 1 September 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6893/

[4] IHRNGO, Bahman Sheikh Hosseini Executed in Birjand Despite Suicide Attempt, 21 October 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7031/

[5] https://www.rokna.net/بخش-اخبار-سیاسی-74/957563-نوروزی-رئیسی-با-محافظ-به-پرند-رفت-نوری-قزلجه-ازاعدام-هزار-جوان-به-جرم-مواد-مخدر-جلوگیری-کردیم

[6] RTE, Government ceased anti-drug programme funding over Iran death penalty fears, 8 November 2013, https://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1108/485366-ireland-anti-drug-iran/

[7] See, for example, IHRNGO and ECPM, Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, 2022, https://iranhr.net/media/files/Rapport_iran_2022_PirQr2V.pdf

[8] UNODC, UNODC and Iran Enhance Cooperation in The Field of Drugs and Crime, 15 March 2023, https://www.unodc.org/islamicrepublicofiran/en/unodc-and-iran-enhance-cooperation-in-the-field-of-drugs-and-crime.html

[9] UNODC, Sub-Programme 1, “Border Management and Illicit Trafficking”, https://www.unodc.org/islamicrepublicofiran/border-management-and-illicit-trafficking.html

[10] https://www.mizanonline.ir/fa/news/4713713/نقش-مهم-ایران-در-مبارزه-با-قاچاق-مواد-مخدر-و-تروریسم-وقتی-که-غرب-حامی-قاچاقچیان-و-تروریست%E2%80%8Eها-می%E2%80%8Eشود

[11] IHRNGO, ECPM and others, 80+ Rights Groups: UNODC Must Stop Complicity in Drug Executions in Iran, 10 April 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6637/

[12] UNODC, UNODC Iran Supports National Anti-Narcotic Forces With Advanced Skills Training, December 2024, https://www.unodc.org/islamicrepublicofiran/en/unodc-iran-supports-national-anti-narcotic-forces-with-advanced-skills-training.html

[13] IHRNGO, Relationship between political events and the death penalty trends in Iran, 11 July 2013, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/982/

[14] IHRNGO, Mohammad Javad Larijani: Death Penalty Does Not Deter Drug Crimes, 31 December 2015, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/2408/

[15] See also, Human Rights Watch, Iran: Bid to End Drug-Offense Executions, 16 December 2015, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/16/iran-bid-end-drug-offence-executions