KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Iran has executed an Afghan man convicted of drug-related charges, amid a growing number of executions of Afghan nationals in the country.
The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported that 52-year-old Alireza Lalouzai was hanged in Birjand Central Prison, located in South Khorasan province, last Sunday.
Lalouzai had been arrested three years ago and later sentenced to death for drug trafficking by the Iranian judiciary, the group said.
He was among seven people executed that day, four of whom were reportedly of Baluch ethnicity. The executions were carried out in secrecy, with no advance notice or final visits granted to the families.
Iranian state media and judicial officials have not commented or confirmed the executions.
Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world. It frequently imposes the death penalty for a range of offenses, including drug crimes, murder, and political activism.
According to the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, Iran executed at least 169 people in the first two months of 2025. Many of those executed were foreign nationals. Sato has warned that if the trend continues, Iran could carry out more than 1,000 executions this year.
Rights groups report a sharp rise in the execution of Afghan nationals in Iran since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. According to IHR, 16 Afghan citizens were executed in 2022. The number increased to 25 in 2023 and surged to at least 80 in 2024. In 2025, at least 26 Afghans have already been executed so far.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have condemned Iran’s use of the death penalty and are calling for its total abolition. Amnesty says capital punishment violates the right to life and has no place under international human rights standards.
