Execution of at least 11 individuals, including a woman and an Afghan national, in Iran

Human rights sources reported on Thursday that the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic executed at least 11 prisoners, including a woman and an Afghan national, in several cities across Iran. According to reports from human rights sources on Thursday, November 8, these executions took place in prisons in Mashhad, Zanjan, Rasht, and Shiraz. The Human Rights Activists in Iran reported that early on Thursday, November 8, the Islamic Republic's judicial officials executed two prisoners in Lakan prison in Rasht on drug-related charges. According to the report by HRANA, the media organization of this group, the identity of one of the executed individuals was announced as 'Majid Jamali,' while the second individual, whose name is still unclear, was a woman. Additionally, this media outlet reported the execution of two prisoners named 'Soleiman Abbaspour and Ezzat Seyedi' in Zanjan prison. According to this report, the execution of these two individuals took place in the early hours of Saturday, and they were sentenced to death in connection with a 'murder' charge. According to HRANA, the Islamic Republic's judicial authorities also executed a prisoner named 'Majid Alibabayi' on Wednesday, November 7, in Adelabad prison in Shiraz, in connection with a 'murder' charge. The authorities of the Islamic Republic have not yet released information regarding the execution of these citizens. Furthermore, the Iran Human Rights Organization reported on Thursday that the Islamic Republic's judicial authorities executed 'at least six prisoners, including an Afghan national,' in connection with drug-related crimes at the central prison of Mashhad, also known as Vakilabad. In this report, the identities of four of these individuals, who were executed on Tuesday, November 6, were announced as 'Mahmoud Shahroki, 44, and Mohammad Reza Davar, both from Zabol, Zaher Safri, an Afghan national, and Majid Ghaderi,' emphasizing that 'at least 23 individuals have been executed in Iranian prisons' in the past two days. The Islamic Republic's judiciary has continuously increased the execution of prisoners in connection with drug offenses over the past four years, and in the past two calendar years, at least 727 individuals have been executed in this regard. The Iran Human Rights Organization reported that the number of drug-related executions carried out by the Islamic Republic's judiciary in 2022, from January 1, 2022, to January 1, 2023, was 256, which increased by 84% to 471 in the following year. Additionally, HRANA reported that on Thursday, November 8, four prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement for execution in the central prison of Karaj. Previously, Amnesty International reported in its annual report published in June of this year that the Islamic Republic of Iran was one of the five countries with the highest number of executions in 2023. This human rights organization noted that the Iranian government alone carried out 74% of the identified executions.