Iran Executes Three for Drug Offenses

Three inmates convicted of drug offenses were executed in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz on June 1, according to the Iran Human Rights Organization. 

The executed inmates have been identified as Mohammad-Saeed Zohrabi, Hassan Nematollahi, and 30-year-old Mahmoud Ghaedi.

Zohrabi and Nematollahi were reportedly sentenced to death for smuggling 80 kilos of drugs in the same legal case two years ago.

According to a report by Amnesty International, Iran has recorded its highest level of death sentence executions in the last eight years, with the judiciary of the Islamic Republic 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 per cent increase compared to 2021, when 132 individuals faced execution on similar charges.