7 Men Including Afghan National Hanged in Karaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, seven men were hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 9 April 2025. Four of the men who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder have been identified as Sajad Akbari, Bahram Hadavand Khani, Salar Amir Jalali and Abolfazl Karimi.

The other three men were sentenced to death on drug-related charges. The identity of one of them has been established as Mehdi Salan and two of the men, including an Afghan national, have not been identified at the time of writing.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Two other drug death row prisoners were also transferred to the pre-execution cells but there’s no news of their fate.”

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 503 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only under 3% were announced by official sources. 17% of all drug-related executions in 2024 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population.

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.”