Group Hanging of 10 Men Including 2 Afghans and 3 Baluch Minorities in Shiraz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, ten men were hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 31 May 2026. Of those, five were on death row for drug-related offences, four were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) and one was convicted of rape.

Three of the drug defendants have been identified as Mohammad Osman Daneh Barchin, a 35-year-old father of three from Iranshahr, Ghader Khodamoradi, a 43-year-old Baluch father of four and Mohammad Sedigh Baluchi, a 55-year-old father of six from Zahedan. Mohammad and Ghader were arrested around four years ago and Mohammad Sedigh was arrested nine years ago

At the time of writing, the other two drug defendants who were Afghan nationals have not been identified.

The four men on death row for murder have been identified as 32-year-old Saeed Dehghanzadeh from Shiraz, 30-year-old Abbas Bayat from Shiraz, 30-year-old Borzou Mousazadeh from Kermanshah and Ali Akbar Sorabi Moghaddam from Kazeroun.

Saeed was arrested four years ago after a street fight, Abbas was also arrested after a street fight three years ago. Borzou who was a labourer, had got into a fight with a co-worker three years ago and was accused of killing him by throwing a stone at his head. Ali Akbar was arrested in Kazeroun around four years ago and transferred to Shiraz.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been announced by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2025 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 795 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only 0.18% were announced by official sources. 13% of all drug-related executions in 2025 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population.