4 Men Including 2 Baluch Hanged in Isfahan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 30 December. Their identities have been established as 45-year-old Kourosh Narouyi (right photo) from Zahedan, 45-year-old Ahmad Barahouyi from Zabol, both Baluch minorities, 32-year-old Ayat Pourmansouri (left photo) from Dezful and 35-year-old Babak Shoghi from Qazvin. They were all sentenced to death for drug-related offences.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Kourosh Narouyi was arrested five years ago, and Ahmad Barahouyi was arrested six years ago.”

“Ayat Pourmansouri was a father of one and arrested four years ago and Babak Shoghi was arrested around 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.”