3 Including Afghan National Executed in Isfahan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were executed in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 2nd November. Two of the men who were on death row for drug-related offences, have been identified as 27-year-old Shahrokh Saeedkhani (right photo) from Amol who was on death row for three years and 40-year-old Moaven Mirjahani, an Afghan national. The third man has been identified as 36-year-old Mohammad Javad Karami (left photo) from Isfahan who was arrested five years ago and sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder.

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.”