Foreign and Dual Nationals Executed in 2023

Iranhr.net – This is an extract from the 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran. To read the full report, please click here.

FOREIGN CITIZENS

Afghans constitute the largest group of non-Iranian execution and death row cases in Iranian prisons. In 2021, no execution of Afghan nationals was recorded until September, when five men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, Iran Human Rights expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals.[1] That number more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals executed, including a juvenile offender and a woman. In 2023, the number of Afghan nationals rose to 25 people, with two publicly executed.

There is no public information available about the number of Afghan nationals on death row in Iranian prisons, but the numbers are believed to be high, particularly in prisons in the eastern part of the country. In June 2023, a spokesperson for the Taliban told the media that “the death sentences of 200 Afghan citizens which had recently been issued in Iran, have been commuted to imprisonment and they have been returned to Afghanistan.”[2] In July 2023, informed sources told IHRNGO that around 250-300 prisoners are held in the foreign ward of Isfahan Central Prison, the majority of whom are Afghan and Pakistani nationals and on death row for drug-related charges. An Afghan national named Jalal Amanedin, who is currently on death row for drug-related charges with his uncle Shafi Amanedin, was 17 years old at the time of arrest.[3]

It is important to note that Afghan executions are not normally announced by authorities and they do not have a family network or lawyers who can raise awareness about their situation. As such, their number may be higher than those we have been able to verify.

FOREIGN CITIZENS EXECUTED IN 2023:

Mirajan Mohammadi was secretly executed for drug-related charges in Roudan Prison on 9 January 2023.[4] Yousef Jomeh Hossein was executed for drug-related charges in Shiraz Central Prison on 5 April 2023.[5] A man only identified as Saeed was executed for murder in Rajai Shahr Prison on 8 May 2023.[6] Two unidentified men were executed for murder in Ghezelhesar Prison on 10 May 2023.[7] Najaf Soleiman Reshad was executed for murder charges in Khorramabad Central Prison on 18 May 2023.[8] Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeim Hashem Ghotali were publicly hanged in Shiraz for charges of efsad-fil-arz and baghy in the “Shahcheragh” case on 8 July 2023.[9] Jahedollah Marouf was executed for qisas or drug-related charges in Isfahan Central prison on 15 July 2023.[10] Mohammad Arbab was executed for drug-related charges in Zabol Prison on 30 July 2023.[11] Assadollah Amini was executed for drug-related charges in Zabol Prison on 31 July 2023.[12] Massoud Eshaghi was executed for drug-related charges in Zabol Prison on 1 August 2023.[13] An unidentified man was executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison on 7 August 2023.[14] Sobhan Eftekharedin was executed for murder charges in Aligudarz Prison on 27 August 2023.[15] An unidentified man was executed for unknown charges in Kerman Central Prison on 9 October 2023.[16] Nazir Mohammad Tajik and Nour Mohammad Barbari were executed for murder in Ghezelhesar Prison on 11 October 2023.[17] Sadegh Tajik was executed for murder in Ghezelhesar Prison on 1 November 2023.[18] Reza Arbabzehi was executed for murder in Zahedan Central Prison on 11 November 2023.[19] Nazir Mohammad was executed for drug-related charges in Ghezelhesar Prison on 15 November 2023.[20] A man only identified as Arsalan was executed for murder charges in Ghezelhesar Prison on 15 November 2023.[21] A man only identified as Jamil was executed for murder charges in Shiraz Central prison on 14 December 2023.[22] Abdollah Zamani was executed for drug-related charges in Ghezelhesar Prison on 19 December 2023.[23] Two unidentified men were executed for unknown charges in Karaj Penitentiary on 23 December 2023.[24]

DUAL-NATIONALS

Iran does not recognise dual nationality and thus denies consular access to dual citizens. It also uses imprisoned dual nationals and foreign nationals as bargaining chips in political and economic negotiations with the West. In April 2019, then Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif declared that he had the authority to exchange Iranian-Americans imprisoned in Iran with the US, an admission that these prisoners are being used as political hostages.[25] As well as arresting foreign and dual-nationals to use as pawns in their hostage diplomacy, three dissidents were kidnapped from neighbouring countries with assistance from an international drug-cartel and transferred to Iran; Ruhollah Zam from Iraq in October 2019, Jamshid Sharmahd from the United Arab Emirates in July 2020 and Habib Asyoud from Turkey in October 2020. Of the three, only one is still on death row. Ruhollah Zam was executed in December 2020[26] and Habib Asyoud was executed in 2023.[27] There are currently two dual citizens on death row in Iran, Ahmadreza Djalali[28] and Jamshid Sharmahd.[29]

DUAL-NATIONALS EXECUTED IN 2023:

Alireza Akbari

Alireza Akbari was an Iranian-British national and former senior Ministry of Defence employee who was sentenced to death for charges of efsad-fil-arz through espionage. He was executed at an unspecified location on 14 January 2023.[30]

Habib Asyoud

Habib Asyoud (Chaab) was an Iranian-Swedish national and Arab minority who was kidnapped from Turkey in October 2020[31]and sentenced to death for charges of “efsad-fil-arz through forming, administrating and leading a group called the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, and planning and implementing terrorist operations, and destruction of public property carried out through various operations.”[32] Habib’s public trial lacked all fair trial standards. He was executed at an unspecified location on 6 May 2023.[33]

[1] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/4917/

[2] https://www.parsine.com/بخش–سیاست-106/825449-طالبان–عودت–مهاجر–افغانست

[3] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6059/

[4] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5704/

[5] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5802/

[6] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5802/

[7] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5802/

[8] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5919/

[9] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6042/

[10] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6059/

[11] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6106/

[12] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6106/

[13] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6111/

[14] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6132/

[15] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6173/

[16] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6225/

[17] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6235/

[18] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6281/

[19] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6304/

[20] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6316/

[21] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6318/

[22] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6402/

[23] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6414/

[24] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6447/

[25] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/world/middleeast/iran-zarif-prisoner-exchange.html

[26] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/4527/

[27] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5874/

[28] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5217/

[29] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5738/

[30] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5700/

[31] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/4485/

[32] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5773/

[33] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5874/