Worrying report: Iran executes one person every 6 hours

Half of the 42 people executed in Iran in the past two weeks are reported to be from the Balochistan region on the Iran-Pakistan border.It was learned that most of these people were executed for drug offences. Amnesty International noted that the death penalty against the Baloch minority had intensified at a “chilling” rate.

According to the Daily Star report, some dual-citizen Iranians are also being executed despite international protests. Habib Farajollah Chaab, who has dual Swedish-Iranian citizenship, was executed on Saturday (May 6), an act condemned by the Swedish government.

Iranian prosecutors have claimed that Chaab was behind a terror attack that killed dozens of people at a military parade in the southern province of Khuzestan in 2018.

Alireza Akbari, Iran’s former deputy defense minister, was also hanged in January after being accused of handing over nuclear secrets to the British government. Akbari, 62, was allegedly an MI6 agent, but the British agency has never admitted to having any relationship with him.

Alireza Akbari, Iran’s former deputy defense minister, was also executed on espionage charges.

INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS MAKE EXECUTIONS HARDER

IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam said: “The international response to the death sentences against protesters has made it difficult for the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue with its executions.”

“To compensate for this and sow fear among the people, the authorities accelerated the execution of non-political charges. “These are low-cost victims of Iran’s execution machine,” he said.

The IHR says that Iran executed at least 582 prisoners in 2022, the highest number since 2015, a significant increase from the 333 executions reported in 2021.

“In 2022, the Iranian authorities demonstrated how important the death penalty is to instill societal fear in order to retain power,” it said in its annual report on capital punishment in the country.