Mohammad Yousef Issazehi Secretly Hanged for Drug Offences

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 9 September 2026. His identity has been established as Mohammad Yousef Issazehi Rigi, a 40-year-old Baluch father of five from the village of Chah Jamal in Iranshahr.

He was arrested for possession of shisheh (methamphetamine) over four years ago and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. According to informed IHRNGO sources, he was transferred for execution twice since last year and his execution was carried out without prior notice, depriving him of a last family visit.

IHRNGO previously reported the executions of Shahrokh Pouresmaili and Hossein Ghasemzadeh, bringing the total number of executions to three at the prison that day.

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.