Amnesty International revealed Friday that Iranian authorities have carried out a staggering 173 executions of individuals convicted for drug-related offenses this year, marking a significant increase of nearly three times compared to the same period last year.
Executions for drug-related offenses made up two-thirds of all the executions carried out in Iran in the first five months of 2023, Amnesty said in a new report.
The "shameless rate" at which authorities were carrying out drug-related executions, in violation of international law, "exposes their lack of humanity and flagrant disregard for the right to life," Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa Diana Eltahawy said.
"The international community must ensure that cooperation in anti-drug trafficking initiatives does not contribute, directly or indirectly, to the arbitrary deprivation of life and other human rights violations in Iran."
The report found the number of executions for all crimes had also significantly increased, with at least 282 people executed in total so far in 2023. That is nearly double the number of executions that were recorded at the beginning of June last year.
"If the authorities continue to carry out overall executions at this alarming pace, they could kill nearly a thousand prisoners by the end of this year," Amnesty warned.
According to Amnesty, Iran carried out the most executions worldwide in 2022 after China.
