At Least 3 Men Executed for Drug Offences in Shiraz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were executed in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 3 August. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Javad Amiri (left photo), 40-year-old Naghi Ghorbani and 32-year-old Reza Rostami (right photo) who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

The three men were transferred from Pirbanu Prison to Shiraz Central Prison for execution.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Javad Amiri and Naghi Ghorbani were both from Bandarabbas and were arrested in Shiraz in a joint case around three years ago. Reza Rostami was from Sahl Abad in Shiraz and arrested for carrying drugs around four years ago.”

“Pirbanu Prison is predominantly filled with drug offenders and the majority of them are on death row,” the source added.

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

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”