Execution of Four Prisoners Sparks Outcry in Iran

Four prisoners were executed at jails in Iran on Wednesday, as the Islamic Republic added to its toll of hundreds of lives taken in capital punishment this year.

Zabihollah Arjmand, 35, was hanged in Dehdasht Central Prison, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

He had been arrested in 2019 on charges of drug trafficking and subsequently sentenced to death.

Two Kurdish prisoners, Khaled Rouhi and Sirous Heydari, were executed in Sanandaj Central Prison, on charges of murder.

Human Rights Organization Hangaw reported that Heydari had been sentenced to death 12 years ago, while Khaled Rouhi had been condemned to death four years ago.

A prisoner in Saqqez Central Prison was also executed, having been sentenced to death on rape charges.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reported to the General Assembly in October on human rights violations in Iran. He warned that at least 419 executions had been carried out in the first seven months of the year alone in Iran, a shocking rise of 30 per cent over the same period in 2022. More than half of those sentenced to death had been found guilty of charges related to drug crimes.

The Iran Human Rights Organization reported on Thursday that the number of executions carried out by the Islamic Republic since the beginning of this year has reached 707 individuals, marking an unprecedented increase over the past eight years.