Mostafa Kavandi and Ali Bahrami Executed in Zanjan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Zanjan Central Prison on 1st October. Their identities have been established as 39-year-old Mostafa Kavandi and 36-year-old Ali Bahrami (photo) who were sentenced to death for drug-related in the same drug case by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mostafa Kavandi and Ali Bahrami were arrested for carrying 110 kg of narcotics. Mostafa was a father of one and worked as chiseller prior to arrest.”

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.”