Execution of at least 7 prisoners in Iran by Islamic Republic judicial authorities

Human rights sources reported on Wednesday, January 23, that judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic executed several prisoners in prisons in Karaj, Golestan, Mashhad, and Saveh. According to the report from the Human Rights Activists in Iran, at dawn on Wednesday, January 23, 1403, the sentences of three prisoners who were sentenced to death for 'murder' by the judiciary were carried out by judicial authorities in Ghezelsar Prison in Alborz Province. The identities of two of these executed prisoners were reported as 'Omid Bashartlou from Tehran, and Javad Jabari from Boumhen.' Additionally, this human rights organization reported that on the morning of Wednesday, January 23, a prisoner was executed in Saveh for 'the murder of a police officer.' According to available information, the accusation of 'murder' against this prisoner was made despite previous reports indicating that the police officer's death occurred during an accident. The report detailed that during a police chase of several vehicles in the city of Zarandieh in Saveh on May 30, 1402, one of the suspects' vehicles collided with a police officer, who 'died after being transferred to the hospital.' This human rights organization also reported that a prisoner named 'Gholamreza Seyed Mohammadi' was executed for murder in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. The execution of this prisoner took place at dawn on Monday, January 30. Furthermore, the Iran Human Rights Organization reported on January 23 that two prisoners identified as Bahram Valipour and Hossein Farahani, who were sentenced to death in separate cases related to drug offenses, were executed by judicial authorities in Golestan Central Prison. According to this report, the executions of these two prisoners occurred on Sunday, January 22, but the news had not been published until now. The issuance and execution of death sentences under the title of 'Qisas-e Nafs' (retribution in kind) in the Islamic Republic of Iran occurs under circumstances where, according to governmental laws, intentional murder is not graded, and 'any type of murder, regardless of the severity and motivation of the accused, leads to a death sentence.' Moreover, executions of prisoners related to drug offenses have continuously increased over the past four years by the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic, such that according to the Iran Human Rights Organization, the number of executions last year reached '471 executions,' an 84% increase compared to the previous year. Although the judiciary of the Islamic Republic does not officially announce executions in many cases, according to documentation collected by independent human rights organizations, the number of executions in Iran indicates that the government holds the first global rank in violating the right to life. Additionally, two political prisoners stated in a letter: 'The dictatorial system seeks to convey a message of terror and repression to the protesting people.' Mahmoud Amiri Moghadam, director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, also emphasized in a conversation with Voice of America that the Islamic Republic uses executions as a 'tool for repression and intimidation' of citizens with the aim of 'creating terror.'