Taha Khavari and Mohammadreza Rezaei-Kankot Hanged for Drug Offences

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Khorramabad (Parsilon) Central Prison on 22 August 2026. Their identities have been established as 37-year-old Taha Khavari from Behshahr and 26-year-old Mohammadreza Rezaei-Kankot (photo) from the village of Kankot in Lorestan.

Taha was arrested around five years ago and Mohammadreza was arrested around seven years ago when he was just 19 years old. They were sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

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.