2024 Execution of Foreign Nationals in Iran
This is an extract from the 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty.
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 this number more than tripled in 2024, with 80 executions recorded.
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 80 Afghans, two Iraqi nationals were executed in 2024.
Afghan nationals executed in 2024:
Ashraf Akramollah
Ashraf Akramollah moved to Iran from Jalal Abad with his family when he was 11 years old. In 2010, his father was executed in Isfahan Central Prison. Ashraf told his cellmates that his father had worked at a greengrocery, where the owner was also selling drugs without his father’s knowledge. When 900 grams of methamphetamine was discovered, it was Ashraf’s father who was arrested and executed. Years later, when Ashraf saw a fight taking place, he tried to act as a mediator to end it. According to informed sources, someone had attacked another person with a knife and unlike the others, Ashraf did not run away. He stayed until the police arrived at the scene and was the one arrested and sentenced to death. He was executed at the same prison as his father on 18 February 2024.[2]
Nezamoddin Nouralhagh
Nezamoddin Nouralhagh was a 27-year-old Afghan national from Mazare Sharif who lived in Shiraz with his mother and younger sister. He was arrested for a murder during a fight in a fruit and vegetable market. According to informed IHRNGO sources, Nezamoddin had tried to break up the fight but he was blamed for the killing because he was Afghan. A year after arrest, he was executed in Shiraz Central Prison on 25 November 2024.[3]
Esmail Barekzaei
Esmail Barekzaei was a 33-year-old Afghan man from Farah city who lived in Meybod with his sister and brother. He was around 18 when he was accused of killing someone in a street fight. He was sentenced to death and executed in Yazd Central Prison on 28 November 2024.[4]
[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] IHRNGO, Afghan National, Ashraf Akramollah Executed in Isfahan/Father Executed 15 years Ago, 20 February 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6577/
[3] IHRNGO, Reza Shahbazi Khalari and Nezamoddin Nouralhagh Executed in Shiraz, 27 November 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7144/
[4] IHRNGO, 2 Men Including Afghan National Executed in Yazd, 2 December 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7165/