Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 15, 2024: Sirus Hayatbini, Mohammadreza Rahimpour and Mohammad Karim Fazeli were executed for drug-related charges in Ghezelhesar Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three other men were executed with Khosro Besharat. Their identities have been established as Sirus Hayatbini, Mohammadreza Rahimpour and Mohammad Karim Fazeli. They were all sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “These three prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement on 14 May. Sirus was from Kouhdasht and arrested for being in possession of 5 kilograms of heroin. His brother, Siamak Hayatbini was executed for the same charges in July 2023. Mohammadreza was from Nourabad in Lorestan and had been on death row for six years. Mohammad Karim was also from Kouhdasht and arrested for 17 kilograms of heroin six years ago.
At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials.
Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020.
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.”