Mostafa Hosseini and Hatam Shahidi Executed for Drug Offences in Gorgan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Gorgan Prison on 7 July. Their identities have been established as 41-year-old Mostafa Hosseini and 38-year-old Hatam Shahidi, both from Nazarabad in Karaj. They were arrested three years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court in a joint case.

Prior to arrest, Hatam was a pick-up truck driver and moved goods for a living.

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 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. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

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.”