Execution of 10 More in Iran; Sociologist: 7,000 People Awaiting Execution

Simultaneously with reports from human rights organizations about the execution of at least 10 prisoners by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, a sociologist announced that "approximately seven thousand people are on death row" in Iran. Two human rights organizations reported on Tuesday, March 4, that judicial officials in Iran executed at least 10 citizens in the cities of Khorramabad, Golestan, and Zahedan in recent days. According to the website Didar News, Ahmad Bokharaei, a sociologist and university professor, stated at a conference titled "Politics and the Tools of Execution in Iran" held on March 1, that currently "approximately seven thousand people" are on death row in various prisons of the Islamic Republic's judiciary, including "54 of them being political and security prisoners." Furthermore, according to a report by the Iran Human Rights Organization on Tuesday, March 4, seven prisoners, including "two Afghan nationals and five Baluch citizens," were executed by the Islamic Republic's judicial officials in Zahedan Central Prison on charges related to drug offenses or "premeditated murder." The identities of these individuals, executed on Saturday, March 2, were reported as "Morad Sabro (Badpa), Basir Roudini, Farhad Dahmarde, Mousa Pahang, Ghasem Ghanbardezi, Saadollah Zarei, and Asim Charikar." Additionally, a human rights activist group in Iran reported on Tuesday that a 29-year-old prisoner named Iraj Memari from Kashmar was executed on Sunday in Khorramabad prison in connection with drug offenses. Moreover, two prisoners named Ismail Mozafari and Yaqoub Mirzajani were also executed on Saturday, March 2, in Golestan prison on charges of "murder." The issuance and execution of death sentences under the title of "Qisas Nafs" in the Islamic Republic of Iran occur under conditions where, according to governmental laws, premeditated murder is not graded, and "any type of murder, regardless of the severity and motivation of the accused, leads to a death sentence." The Islamic Republic's judicial officials usually keep the execution of citizens secret and provide no reports or statistics except in rare cases; however, according to documentation collected by independent human rights organizations, the number of executions in Iran indicates the highest global ranking for violations of the right to life by the government. Furthermore, according to the Iran Human Rights Organization's report, at least 503 people were executed in connection with drug offenses in Iran in 2024. In 2023, the number of executions related to drug offenses in Iran was 471, which is "almost 20 times more than the drug-related executions in 2020."