The Iranian regime executed at least 17 people between April 4 and 12, according to reports from human rights activists and state-run media. Iran Human Rights Monitor reported that Iran has now officially executed 90 prisoners in 2021, but it emphasized that the true number is much higher because of the regime’s habit of executing prisoners in secrecy. The most recent round of hangings falls on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan.
Most of the condemned prisoners were hanged for drug-related crimes. Some of the inmates were deprived of last visits with family members and other basic rights before their executions.
The following is a timeline of the executions:
Sunday, April 4
Ahad Habibvand, Sadegh Mohi, and Mohammad Karim Mahmoudi were executed at Urmia Central Prison. Hojjat Ghaed, 36, was executed at Zanjan Prison.
Wednesday, April 7
Yaser Daryaei Narouei was executed at Sabzevar Prison in Razavi Khorasan Province. Mr. Daryaei Narouei was an Iranian Baluch, a group that faces discrimination by the regime. According to human rights activists, he was deprived of access to a lawyer and was held in a detention center for a year and a half before his execution.
Thursday, April 8
39-year-old Safar Rahimi was executed at Taybad Prison in Razavi Khorasan Province. According to the state-run ROKNA news agency, two more prisoners were executed at Babol Prison in Mazandaran Province. ROKNA only identified the men by their initials, A.A. and K.H.
Friday, April 9
Mahmoud Bayazid, Ali Mohammadzadeh, Arshad Heydari, and Hamid Najmi were executed at Urmia Central Prison.
Saturday, April 10
Yousef Rasho Hashtian (also known as Bayazid Rashidi) was executed at Urmia Central Prison.
Sunday, April 11
Morteza Kabiri was executed at Isfahan Central Prison. Human rights activists report that at least three more death row inmates have been transferred to solitary confinement in Isfahan Prison in anticipation of their executions. The Iranian regime typically does not schedule executions in advance. Prisoners are transferred to solitary a few days before they are put to death. Guards sometimes move inmates to solitary and then transfer them back as a way to torture death row prisoners.
Monday, April 12
At least three prisoners were executed, according to the human rights group No to Prison. The organization had no information about two of the prisoners, but it was able to name the third. 39-year-old Ghorban Karimi was from the Zeynabieh district. He was the father of a seven-year-old girl. Mr. Karimi was imprisoned for seven years before his execution.
EU sanctioned eight Iranian regime militia commanders and police chiefs
In related news, on April 12 the European Union sanctioned eight Iranian regime militia commanders and police chiefs, and three entities for gross and systematic violations of human rights. The violations stem from the regime’s brutal response to the November 2019 anti-regime protests in Iran. The MEK reported that regime security forces killed more than 1,500 protesters and arrested another 12,000.
The statement from the EU Council read: “These measures consist of a travel ban and an asset freeze, and a ban on exports to Iran of equipment which might be used for internal repression and of equipment for monitoring telecommunications. In addition, EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities.”
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