Iran | Executions in Kerman, Bandar Abbas

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 16, 2025: A Kurdish and a Baluch man named Yadegar Rahimnejad and Abubakr Shehbakhsh were executed for drug-related offences in Kerman Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Kerman Central Prison on 15 April 2025. Their identities have been established as Yadegar Rahimnejad, a Kurdish man from Baneh, and Abubakr Shehbakhsh, a 36-year-old Baluch man from Sarjangal in Zahedan.

Abubakr was arrested four years ago and Yadegar, two years ago. They were sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 503 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only under 3% were announced by official sources. 17% of all drug-related executions in 2024 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population.

Three executions in Bandar Abbas

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 15, 2025: Two Kurdish and a Baluch man named Peyman Naderi, Karim Esmaili and Ayoub Barniani were executed for drug-related offences in Bandar Abbas Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were hanged in Bandar Abbas Central Prison on 15 April 2025. Their identities have been established as Peyman Naderi, a 28-year-old Kurdish man from Kermanshah, Karim Esmaili, a Kurdish man from Eslamabad-e-Gharb and Ayoub Barniani, a Baluch man from Rameshk.

They were arrested in separate cases and sentenced to death on drug-related charges. Peyman was arrested two years ago, and Karim and Ayoub were arrested three years ago.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, April 15-16, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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