10 Men Executed in Shiraz

According to newly obtained information by Iran Human Rights, four men were executed in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 30 September. Two of the men have been identified as Sajad Jafari and Nemat Shishblocki. All four men were sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court and were transferred to Shiraz Central Prison for execution from Pirbanu Prison in Shiraz which houses drug defendants.

Furthermore, another six men were executed for at the prison on 13th October, three for murder and three for drug-related charges. The murder defendants have been identified as 27-year-old Farhad Salimi, 28-year-old Ali Shirvani and 35-year-old Ezat Heidari. They were transferred to the gallows from Wards 10 and 11 of the prison.

The drug defendants have been identified as Kazem Saadipour, Reza Namdari and Hossein Heidari who were also transferred from Pirbanu Prison.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Farhad Salimi was from Shiraz and arrested for murder in the course of drink driving five years ago. Ali Shirvani was from Marvdasht and arrested for an honour killing four years ago. Ezat was also arrested for an honour killing three years ago.”

“Kazem and Reza were arrested in the same drug case three years ago and Hossein was arrested four years ago,” the source added.

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.”