3 Baluch Men Executed in Zahedan

According to Haal Vsh, three Baluch men were executed in Zahedan Central Prison on 9 December. Their identities have been reported as 40-year-old Khodabakhsh Ghanbarzehi (left photo), 33-year-old Omid Hosseinzayi (right photo) and a man only identified as Mr Rakhshani.

They were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court in separate cases.

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.