Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 21 June 2026: Nematollah Barahouyi, Zaher Shahuzehi, Hossein Barahouyi and Shirmohammad Shahuzehi, four Baluch minorities, and Abdollah Jalali, an Afghan national, were executed in Zahedan Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged Zahedan Central Prison on 21 June 2026. His identity has been established as Nematollah Barahouyi, a 31-year-old Baluch father of four from Zabol. He was arrested around four years ago and sentenced to death by the Zahedan Revolutionary Court on drug-related charges. He was transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells on 20 June.
Three other men were hanged at the prison on 17 June. Two of the men who were on death row for drug-related offences have been identified as Zaher Shahuzehi (Gorgij), a 40-year-old Baluch man and Abdollah Jalali, a 25-year-old Afghan man. Zaher was arrested around three years ago. The third man has been established as Hossein Barahouyi, a 24-year-old Baluch who was arrested after a group fight three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
The fifth man who was hanged at the prison on 13 June has been identified as Mohammadmmad Shahuzehi, a 48-year-old Baluch father of five. He was arrested three years ago and was also on death row for drug-related offences.
At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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.
Photo (left to right): Shirmohammad Shahuzehi, Hossein Barahouyi, Zaher Shahuzehi, Abdollah Jalali and Nematollah Barahouyi