IHRNGO Calls on the International Community to Take Urgent Action to Save Habibollah Ghanbarzehi-Farjad's Life
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 11 October 2026: Habibollah Ghanbarzehi-Farjad, a Baluch father on death row for drug-related offences, is at imminent risk of execution in Kerman Prison after being transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells. His family were also summoned for a final visit today.
IHRNGO calls on the international community to take urgent action to save Habibollah Ghanbarzehi-Farjad’s life.
IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Drug offences do not meet the threshold of the ‘most serious crimes’ per the Islamic Republic’s ICCPR obligations. In Iran, such cases are tried by Revolutionary Courts in proceedings that systematically fall short of minimum fair trial standards. Habibollah comes from a marginalised and economically vulnerable part of society, and his execution would not only take his life but push his family even deeper into poverty”. He added: “At this stage, only urgent international intervention may save Habibollah’s life. Governments with diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, as well as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which cooperates with the Iranian authorities on drug-related matters, have a particular moral responsibility to use every available channel to stop his execution.”
According to the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, Habibollah Ghanbarzehi-Farjad was transferred to the solitary confinement cells of Kerman Prison on 11 October 2026. Kerman Prison officials also contacted his family on the same day, instructing them to report to the prison by 22:00 for a final visit prior to the scheduled execution.
Habibollah Ghanbarzehi-Farjad is a 38-year-old Baluch father who is also the sole breadwinner for his mother and sister. He was arrested in November 2023 while driving in Kerman. According to his family, despite evidence indicating that the seized narcotics did not belong to him, Habibollah was sentenced to death on drug-related charges.
In voice messages received by IHRNGO, his sister said: "Hello brother, please do whatever you can. They called us from the prison and told us to report to Kerman Prison by 10 pm for a final visit. For God's sake, do whatever is in your power."
In a separate voice message, his mother pleaded: "For God's sake, do whatever you can for my child. Habibollah has no brother and no father. Please do something for my son."
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. In the first nine months of 2026, at least 211 people were executed for drug offences.
In December 2025, IHRNGO published a report titled “A Village of Graves: Widespread and Systematic Drug Executions in Iran,” which provides an overview of drug laws and documents the systematic violation of due process and fair trial rights in drug cases.
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