Iranwire – The Islamic Republic’s authorities executed twenty two prisoners in the Ghezelhesar Prison near Tehran on Wednesday.
The prisoners had been previously sentenced to death for various non-political crimes, including murder, drug-related offenses, and rape.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has reported the identities of six individuals among those executed for drug-related crimes.
Seven prisoners were convicted of drug-related offenses, four prisoners were convicted of murder, three Afghan nationals were convicted of rape, seven Sunni prisoners (charges unspecified), and one additional prisoner with unspecified charges.
According to a report by Amnesty International, Iran has reached its highest level of death sentence executions in the last eight years, with the Islamic Republic’s judiciary executing 853 people in 2023 alone.
The report indicates that 481 executions, more than half of the total, were related to drug crimes. This marks an 89 percent rise in death penalties for drug-related offenses compared to 2022, when 255 people were executed.
The latest numbers also show a staggering 264 percent spike compared to 2021, when 132 individuals faced execution on similar charges.