Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Sohrab Rafieian and Morteza Azimi, two co-defendants on death row for drug-related charges, was executed in Zanjan Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Zanjan Central Prison on 28 April. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Sohrab Rafieian and 40-year-old Morteza Azimi who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court in the same case.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Sohrab Rafieian and Morteza Azimi were both from Zanjan and had been arrested for carrying 60kg of heroin and opium around three years ago. Morteza had a son with physical disabilities.”
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.
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.”