Khodakaram Lorestani and Hossein Mousivand Executed in Khorramabad

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on 23 December. Their identities have been established as 50-year-old Khodakaram Lorestani and 40-year-old Hossein Mousivand (known as Payi) who were Boroujerd natives. Both men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Hossein Mousivand was arrested around five years ago and sentenced to death. But he always maintained the drugs didn’t belong to him and his relatives said he was innocent. Khodakaram Lorestani was arrested four years ago.”

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On 21 December, IHRNGO warned of more drug executions being carried out after an Iranian MP from Lorestan province stated that the cases of 1000-2000 drug death row inmates were at implementation stage.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.