Iran Executes 11 Prisoners, Including One Woman

The Islamic Republic's authorities executed 11 people, including a woman, in Yazd and Zahedan Central Prisons on Sunday.

Seven prisoners were executed in Yazd and four in Zahedan, with most of them sentenced for drug-related offenses.

Among the identified executed prisoners were Mohammad Ali Kharkouhi, 36, and Reza Kharkouhi, 43, two brothers from Zahedan who were arrested seven years ago in a joint case.

The three Toutazehi brothers - Abdolbaset, 38, Abdolnasser, 38, and Nematollah, 30 - were also executed after being arrested six years ago on similar charges.

Other executed prisoners include Salah Rahimi, 39, a father of three from Sanandaj who was the primary caregiver for his disabled mother, Alireza Galeh-Bacheh, 37, a father of three, Elyas Tardast, 22, Yaqub Barahouyi-Moqaddam from Safidabeh, and Mohammad-Vazir Roudini, 45, a father of four.

A woman prisoner was also executed, though her identity remains unconfirmed. She had been sentenced to death for premeditated murder.

Most of the prisoners were sentenced to death on drug-related charges, with sentences ranging from one to seven years before execution.

At least 166 people were executed in October, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization, marking the highest number of executions in a single month since the organization began documenting them 17 years ago.

According to Amnesty International’s report, Iran has reached its highest level of executions in the past 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 represents an 89 percent increase in death penalties for drug-related offenses compared to 2022, when 255 people were executed.