Iran executes three convicted drug cartel members

Iran executed three convicted drug cartel members Wednesday, the judiciary said, after the United Nations warned of a “frighteningly” high number of executions in the country.

“The death sentence of three members of the Panjak gang, the largest cocaine distribution cartel, which was one of the main drug cartels in the country, was carried out this morning after legal procedures,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

“Six members of the gang were arrested in 2014,” Mizan said, adding: “At the time of arrest, one kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of cocaine, opium and methamphetamine were recovered from the members of this gang.”

Iran executes more people a year than any other nation except China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.

On Monday, Iran executed two people in a rare case of conviction for desecrating the Koran and insulting the Prophet Mohammad, prompting US condemnation and an outcry from human rights groups.

On Tuesday, UN human rights chief Volker Turk cautioned that Iran is on an “abominable” track record this year with an average of more than 10 people being put to death each week.

More than 210 people have been executed in Iran already this year, most of them for drug-related offences, but a United Nations statement said the actual number is likely much higher.

The country hanged 75 percent more people in 2022 than the previous year, the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) said in a joint report in April.

At least 582 people were executed in Iran last year, the highest number of executions in the country since 2015 and well above the 333 recorded in 2021, the two rights groups said.