Foreign Citizens Executed in 2025

Afghans constitute the largest group of non-Iranian execution and death row cases in Iranian prisons. In 2021, no execution of Afghan nationals was recorded until September, when five men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, IHRNGO expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals.[1] That number more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals executed, including a child offender and a woman. In 2023, the number of Afghan nationals executed rose to 25, and more than tripled in 2024, with 80 executions recorded. In 2025, at least 84 Afghan nationals were executed.

There is no public information available about the number of Afghan nationals on death row in Iranian prisons, but the numbers are believed to be high, particularly in prisons in the eastern part of the country. It is important to note that executions of Afghan nationals are not normally announced by authorities and they generally do not have a family network or lawyers who can raise awareness about their situation. As such, their number may be higher than those we have been able to verify.

In addition to the 84 Afghans, three Iraqi nationals and a man referred to as a “foreign national” by authorities were executed in 2025.

Facts and figures about Afghan national executions in 2025:

• At least 84 Afghans were executed in 2025
• Only 6 executions of Afghan nationals were reported by official sources
• 58 were executed for drug-related offences
• 19 were executed for murder charges
• 6 Afghans were executed for rape charges
• One of the executed Afghans was a woman
• 36 of those executed were either not identified or only identified by their first names

Afghan nationals executed in 2025:

Hadigheh Abadi and Younes Mazarshams

Hadigheh Abadi and her 46-year-old husband, Younes Mazarshams were from Harat. They had been living in Iran for twenty years, working as building caretakers in Karaj’s Taleghan. In 2021, the couple were arrested with their three children and sentenced to death on drug-related offences. Hadigheh and Younes were hanged in Qazvin (Choobindar) Central Prison on 11 September 2025. Following their executions, their three young children were deported to Afghanistan. No information is available about the fate of their children.[2]

[1] IHRNGO, 10 October 2021: 226 Executions Recorded in 2021: Sharp Rise in Drug Executions, 10 October 2021, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/4917/

[2] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/8005/