Three Men Including Cousins Hanged for Drug Offences in Sari

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were hanged in Sari Central Prison on 17 July 2026. Their identities have been established 37-year-old Shahin Sadr and 35-year-old Saeed Armand, two cousins from Sari, and 47-year-old Ferdows Memari, a father of two from Rasht.

Ferdows was arrested for carrying 17 kilograms of heroin two years ago, and the two cousins were arrested in a joint case around four years ago. They were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges.

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 2025 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 795 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only 0.18% were announced by official sources. 13% of all drug-related executions in 2025 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population.

In December 2025, IHRNGO published a report titled “A Village of Graves: Widespread and Systematic Drug Executions in Iran,” which provides an overview of drug laws and documents the systematic violation of due process and fair trial rights in drug cases.