KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – An Iranian human rights organization reports that the Islamic Republic recently executed an Afghan national convicted of drug-related offenses.
The Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, which monitors rights abuses in Iran, reported that 27-year-old Zaki Zakiri was executed on Sunday, March 9, in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz.
Zakiri, originally from Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, had been arrested two years ago on drug-related charges and was recently sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary, the report said.
According to the report, his family members, who reside in Mashhad, Iran, were denied the opportunity for a final visit before his execution.
Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world. Rights groups say the number of Afghan nationals executed in the country has increased significantly since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Iran Human Rights (IHR), an Oslo-based rights group, previously reported that at least 73 Afghan nationals were executed in Iran in 2024 alone, mostly on charges related to drugs and murder.
The group documented 16 executions of Afghan citizens in Iran in 2022, including a minor and a woman. This number increased to 25 in 2023 before rising sharply in 2024.
In total, Iran executed at least 975 people in 2024, a 17% increase from the previous year. In October alone, 166 executions were carried out, including 13 Afghan nationals, marking the highest monthly execution rate in two decades, according to IHR.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly condemned Iran’s use of the death penalty, particularly for drug-related crimes. They argue that such executions violate international law and fundamental human rights. They have called on the international community to pressure Iranian authorities to halt executions immediately.
