Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 13 June 2026: Mohammad Akbarpournia, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Tabriz Central Prison. A 71-year-old man named Rasoul Atapour is at imminent risk of execution for a crime he did not commit at the prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 31 May 2026. His identity has been established as Mohammad Akbarpournia (photo), a 33-year-old father sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mohammad had worked as a master bricklayer since the age of 18. He married at 19 and had a 14-year-old son named Ramin. Due to severe financial hardships, they could barely pay their rent of 2,400,000 tomans, never mind the extra-curricular classes their son wanted to attend with his friends. Mohammad's wife was also unable to work because she had lost three fingers in a meat grinder when she was eight years old. After their son ran away from home for a few days due to their poverty, Mohammad quit his work, saying: ‘For the sake of my only son, Ramin, I will do whatever it takes.' He started drug dealing with his cousin to fulfil his son's wishes. He would say: ‘the whole world on one side, and my Ramin on the other; he must have whatever he asks for.' In the end, neither of them got what they wanted. Mohammad was arrested at home with 19 kilograms of methamphetamine (shisha) and opium. His cousin was sentenced to 18 years in prison while Mohammad received a death sentence, which was ultimately carried out.”
At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Furthermore, Rasoul Atapour, another man on death row for drug-related offences, is at imminent risk of execution at the prison.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Rasoul Atapour, who is now 71 years old with five children and several grandchildren, was arrested nine years ago on charges of possessing six kilograms of narcotics. The drugs were discovered inside a six-metre under-stair shop he rented in the Abbasi neighbourhood of Tabriz (22 Bahman Street), where sold men's underwear and socks. At every one of his three hearings, Rasoul maintained his innocence, testifying that he had never smoked or previously set foot in a police station and that the drugs belonged to his brother-in-law, who had stashed them there without his knowledge. Yet, he was sentenced to death and is now on the verge of execution.”
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.