Prisoner Executed in Gonabad Prison for Drug-Related Charges

HRANA News Agency – On Tuesday, May 13, the death sentence of a prisoner previously convicted on drug-related charges was carried out in Gonabad Prison.

The prisoner has been identified as Ebrahim Joghatay, a resident of Sabzevar.

According to information obtained by HRANA, Mr. Joghatay had been arrested on drug-related charges and was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court.

As of the time of this report, the execution has not been officially announced by prison authorities or relevant institutions.

In 2024, according to 812 reports compiled by HRANA, the Iranian regime executed 930 individuals in its prisons—marking the highest number of executions in the past 12 years. Despite the scale of these executions, prison officials and other relevant authorities publicly acknowledged only 6% of them, highlighting the regime’s lack of transparency and accountability.

Execution of Six Prisoners Carried Out in Gonabad and Adelabad Prisons

The death sentences of six prisoners, previously convicted on separate charges of drug-related crimes and murder, were carried out in Gonabad and Adelabad prisons.

According to HRANA, quoting Hal Vash, four prisoners were executed early this morning, Thursday, December 26, 2024, in Gonabad Prison. Their identities have been confirmed as:

  • Abdullah Narooie, 35, married with two children, from Zahedan.
  • Hossein Salarzahi, approximately 45, married with three children, from Zahedan.
  • Javad Ghaffari, 35, from Mashhad.
  • Ahmad Ghafran, approximately 43, from Birjand.

The report states that Abdullah Narooie was arrested in 2020, Ahmad Ghafran and Javad Ghaffari in 2019, and Hossein Salarzahi in 2018 on drug-related charges. They were subsequently sentenced to death by the Gonabad Revolutionary Court. The prisoners were transferred from the general ward to solitary confinement on Tuesday to await execution.

Three of the prisoners were executed without a final meeting with their families.

In a separate report from the Iran Human Rights Organization, two other prisoners were executed early yesterday morning in Adelabad Prison, Shiraz. They were identified as:

  • Hamed Ranjbar, 40, from Kerman, arrested four years ago on drug-related charges.
  • Kateb Seyednian, an Afghan national arrested three years ago on murder charges.

As of the time of this report, prison authorities and responsible institutions have not officially announced the executions.

According to latest HRANA’s annual report over between October 10, 2023, and October 8, 2024, at least 811 individuals were executed by hanging in Iran, rising to 23.06% compared to the same period last year. Of these executions, four were carried out in public. Many of the defendants were denied a fair trial.