Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 22 June 2026: Nourjalal Mojahed (Afghan national), Reza Nazif and Esfandiar Sadri were executed in Yazd Central Prison. Two other men were previously reported to have been hanged that day, bringing the total number to five at the prison that day.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were hanged in Yazd Central Prison on 17 June 2026. Their identities have been established as 28-year-old Reza Nazif from Ardakan, Nourjalal Mojahed, a 27-year-old Afghan national from Ghaleh Nour and Esfandiar Sadri, a 50-year-old father of two from Yazd.
Reza and Nourjalal were arrested two years ago and sentenced to death in separate drug-related cases by the Revolutionary Court. Esfandiar was arrested nine years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.
IHRNGO reported the hangings of Omar Shahbakhsh and Ghafour Shahbakhsh, bringing the number of executions to five 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.