Arak prison: Milad Darvishi, 31, a father, executed on drug charges

Milad Darvishi, a 31-year-old prisoner from Arak, was executed in Arak prison on Wednesday, 14 October 2026. His death sentence had been issued by a Revolutionary Court on drug-related charges. Iran Human Rights received word of the execution from an informed source, and HRANA published it on Saturday, 17 October.

Milad Darvishi was married and the father of a four-year-old girl, and had been arrested about two years before his execution. As of the publication of the report, no official or media outlet of the Islamic Republic had announced the execution, a pattern seen in most executions in these months, leaving human rights organizations to record and count them.

Drug executions: the largest share of execution figures

Executions on drug charges make up a large part of the Islamic Republic's executions. These defendants' cases are heard in Revolutionary Courts, which human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized for denying defendants a fair trial and access to a lawyer. In its annual report, Iran Human Rights stated that at least 2,488 people were executed in Iran in 2025, including 63 women and two people who were under 18 at the time of the alleged offence; 13 of these executions were carried out in public.

Milad Darvishi's execution took place in a week in which Amnesty International warned that at least 20 protesters from the Dey (December–January) uprising are at imminent risk of execution and two other prisoners in Shirvan prison were also executed without any official announcement.

Other death sentences

In the same days, Tehran's Criminal Court One sentenced a man to death on a charge of premeditated murder. In Shadegan, two murder cases ended in settlement with the consent of the victims' families, and the death sentences of two convicts were revoked.

Milad Darvishi, father of a four-year-old child, was executed in Arak prison with no official announcement.