Nader Ghanizadeh and Naser Soleimani Executed in Jiroft

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Jiroft Prison on 23 November. Their identities have been established as Nader Ghanizadeh (photo) and Naser Salmani who was 62 years old.

Nader was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder and Naser was on death row for drug-related offences.

According to the Baluch Activists Campaign which first reported news of the executions, 58 murder and drug death row prisoners are currently at risk of execution in Jiroft Prison.

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.”