Six executed in Iran’s West Azerbaijan, activists say

Authorities in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province have executed five people who had been sentenced to death on drug-related charges and one political prisoner, human rights groups say, amid a sharp rise in the number of executions in the country.

The Islamic Republic uses the death penalty widely, including as a tool of recession against dissent and ethnic minorities. Executions are often carried out after unfair trials, Iranwire reports.

The Harana human rights website says Ashi Abbasnejad, Mohammad Ayoubian, Yasin Rashidi, Jahanbakhsh Radlouyi and a woman identified only as Nasreen were executed in Urmia Central Prison at dawn on March 16.

They had been sentenced to capital punishment on drug-related charges.

Meanwhile, the Norway-based Hengaw human rights website reported that a Kurdish political prisoner, Mohiyedin Ebrahimi, was also executed in Urmia Central Prison.

Amnesty International condemned the execution, saying it followed "a grossly unfair trial that relied on torture-tainted “confessions”.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei "must stop using the death penalty as a tool of political repression & put a moratorium on executions," it added.