Tabriz Central Prison: Ali Farhadi executed on drug charges

Ali Farhadi, a prisoner convicted on a drug-related charge, was executed in Tabriz Central Prison on Sunday, 18 October 2026. Iran Human Rights published news of the execution, and HRANA, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, confirmed his identity. As of Tuesday, 20 October, the authorities of the Islamic Republic and domestic media had published no report of the execution.

According to the two human rights bodies, Ali Farhadi had been sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court on a charge of selling eight kilograms of heroin, after about 15 months in detention. Nothing is known about the proceedings in his case, his access to a lawyer or other details of the file.

Drug executions in the Revolutionary Courts

Drug cases in the Islamic Republic are heard in the Revolutionary Courts, which human rights organisations have repeatedly reported for hasty trials, forced confessions and the denial of an independent lawyer to defendants. A large share of the executions carried out in Iran in recent years have been on this charge, and many of them are never officially announced.

Ali Farhadi's execution comes as the wave of executions in the country's prisons continues. This week Iran Human Rights warned about the transfer of more than 200 prisoners from Ghezel Hesar prison for execution, and on Monday, 19 October, Hamid Mohammadi, a prisoner from Fasa, was executed in Bandar Abbas prison.

Ali Farhadi was executed in Tabriz prison after 15 months in detention, without the Islamic Republic announcing it.