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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Sunday executed another prisoner from the Baluchi minority in the country’s southeast, accusing him of taking up arms against the state.
Amer Ramesh was detained following a clash in a village near Chabahar in October 2024, during which three Baluchi men and a member of the security forces were killed, Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported Sunday. Ramesh was charged with taking up arms against the state and membership in Jaish al-Adl, a Baluchi armed group that has clashed with Iranian security forces on numerous occasions.
The Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Center on Saturday said Ramesh was not involved in any clash with security forces and was instead caught in the crossfire while inside a shop. According to the group, security forces were pursuing a car carrying armed occupants when the vehicle stopped outside the shop, and Ramesh was wounded in the ensuing clash.
Baluchi areas in southeastern Iran are among the country’s most deprived regions, and members of the minority account for a disproportionate number of those executed annually by the Islamic Republic.
Iran is one of the world’s leading users of the death penalty. More than a dozen political prisoners have been executed since February 28, when Israel and the US launched an extensive air campaign against Iran, targeting thousands of sites before the warring parties agreed to a ceasefire on April 8.
Haalvsh, a human rights organization covering Baluchi areas in Iran, said Ramesh was subjected to an unfair trial and that forced televised confessions formed a major part of the security forces’ case against him.
“While the family was pursuing his release, they were asked to cooperate with security agencies in exchange for Amer Ramesh’s freedom,” sources told Haalvsh. “The names of three opponents [of the regime] were even mentioned, and it was suggested that the family take action to assassinate them.”
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported in late December that Iran carried out 2,063 executions in 2025 - the highest number recorded in around three and a half decades. At least 143 Baluchi individuals were executed last year on various charges, including drug-related offenses.
The Baluchi areas in southeast Iran are subjected to some of the worst human rights violations in the country. The IRGC and other security forces frequently open fire on residents in Baluchi areas on suspicion of membership in militant groups or carrying contraband.
The bodies of two Baluchi men killed by the IRGC on Wednesday were returned to their families for burial on Saturday. Mohammad Akram Akhtari and Mohammad Islam Saedi were killed when the Guards opened fire on their vehicle in the town of Rask in Sistan and Baluchestan province.
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