Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 17 February 2026: Mina Nasirpour and Sadegh Manafi were executed for drug-related offences in Tabriz Central Prison. The execution of Mina Nasirpour also revealed that her husband, Hassan Sheikh Hosseini, had previously been executed in the same prison in December.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man and a woman were hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 16 February 2026. The woman has been identified as Mina Nasirpour from Ardabil who was around 40 years old. She was arrested for drug-related offences with her husband Hassan Sheikh Hosseini around two years ago. They were both sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. Her husband was executed at the prison on 1 December 2025.
The man executed with Mina has been identified as Sadegh Manafi (photo) a 37-year-old Tabriz native. He was also on death row for drug-related charges.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Mina Nasirpour is the third woman execution recorded in 2026. In 2025, at least 48 women were executed, the highest number of women executions recorded in Iran in more than two decades. Iran executes the highest recorded number of women globally.
In January 2025, IHRNGO published a report titled “Women and the Death Penalty in Iran; a Gendered Perspective,” which sheds light on the contemporary experiences of women facing the death penalty, focusing on the discriminatory laws and societal factors that perpetuate their suffering.
Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 503 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only under 3% were announced by official sources. 17% of all drug-related executions in 2024 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population.
In December 2025, IHRNGO published a report titled “A Village of Graves: Widespread and Systematic Drug Executions in Iran,” which provides an overview of drug laws and documents the systematic violation of due process and fair trial rights in drug cases.