Executing in Iran for drug-related crimes reach 423

According to the statement made by IHR, a total of 11 Baluch individuals, 9 Iranians and 2 Afghan citizens, were executed by hanging at Zahedan Central Prison on Sunday and Tuesday mornings.

It was noted that all executed prisoners had been convicted of drug-related crimes.

IHR reported that the number of executions in Iran since the beginning of 2023 has reached 423.

In Iran, crimes such as terrorism, murder, rape, armed robbery, and drug trafficking are punished with the death penalty.

The Iranian government announced in April 2017 that the penalties for drug-related crimes were reduced under a new law. At the time, the Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani instructed judges to review the files of prisoners awaiting execution for drug offenses.

In May, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated that at least 209 people had been executed in Iran from the beginning of the year until May, most of them for drug-related offenses, and this figure was "alarming." Volker Türk called on Iranian authorities to abolish the death penalty or halt all execution orders.