Human rights and news sources reported on Thursday, January 2, that the Iranian regime’s judiciary has executed at least 22 prisoners in various cities across the country in recent days.
According to HRANA, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, the Iranian judiciary executed three prisoners on charges related to drug offenses and murder on Tuesday, December 31, at Choobindar Prison in Qazvin.
HRANA further reported that on the first day of the new year, at least 15 prisoners were executed in various prisons in Iran, including in Malayer, Bandar Abbas, Yasuj, and Ghezel Hesar in Alborz Province.
The human rights organization identified two of the ten prisoners executed in Karaj as Mohammad Hossein Mohammadi-Far and an Afghan national named Pasha, stating that their executions were related to drug charges.
According to the report, the other eight prisoners were executed on murder charges.
Additionally, the judiciary executed at least five prisoners, including three Afghan nationals, at Bandar Abbas Central Prison early Wednesday, January 1.
Iran Human Rights Organization reported that the judiciary executed a 25-year-old prisoner named Pejman Masoudi Koushk on charges of “premeditated murder” early Wednesday at Yasuj Central Prison.
A source informed the human rights organization that Pejman Masoudi had been detained four years prior and was transferred to solitary confinement with another prisoner named Abolfazl Hassani on Monday, December 30, for the execution.
The Iran Human Rights Organization also reported that two prisoners, Esmail Mirzaei and Fattah Mahmoudi, were executed on drug-related charges at Rasht Central Prison (Lakan).
The organization further stated that a 52-year-old citizen, identified as Mohammad Shafi’ Mousavi, was executed on charges of “premeditated murder” at Malayer Prison.
The execution of this individual reportedly occurred on November 30, but it had not been disclosed by official or human rights sources until now.
Previously, political prisoners involved in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign have repeatedly stated that the issuance and execution of death sentences by the Iranian regime are intended to “create fear and intimidation.”
Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, has previously criticized the human rights situation and the increasing number of executions in Iranian prisons, calling for a reduction in death sentences in Iran.
Executions related to drug offenses have continuously increased over the past four years in Iran. According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, the number of executions last year rose by 17% compared to the previous year, reaching “993 executions.”
Despite the judiciary’s frequent lack of formal acknowledgment, independent human rights organizations’ evidence shows that Iran has the highest number of executions globally.
