Iranian Prisoner Executed on Drug-Related Charges

The Islamic Republic's authorities have executed another prisoner amid a shocking increase in the use of capital punishment. 

Ahmad Esmaeili, who was sentenced to death for drug-related offenses, was executed on February 21 behind the walls of Hamedan prison in Hamedan province, according to the activist HRANA news agency. 

Esmaeili was arrested in 2018 on suspicion of smuggling 11 kilograms of methamphetamine.

The number of people given capital punishment across Iran reached a 12-month high in January, with at least 35 people being sentenced to death during that month.

In recent weeks, the sharp rise in executions sparked passionate calls from Iranian civil society to abolish the death penalty, with the hashtag #NoToExecution being increasingly popular among social media users.

United Nations experts said last month that at least 834 people were executed in 2023, including eight people associated with the 2022-23 uprising, and urged the Iranian government to “stop this horrific wave of executions.”