Taliban Urges Iran to Show Leniency Amid Rising Executions of Afghan Prisoners
Tehran, Apr 4: Alarmed by the rising number of executions of Afghan nationals in Iran, senior Taliban official Abdul Malik Haqqani, the administrative deputy of the Supreme Court, visited Tehran and appealed to Iranian authorities to exercise leniency towards Afghan prisoners.
During his visit, Haqqani urged Iranian officials to explore alternatives to capital punishment and requested a detailed list of Afghan inmates currently on death row.
According to reports, at least 21 Afghan nationals have been executed in Iranian prisons during the first quarter of 2025. These executions took place across facilities including Qezel Hesar in Karaj, and prisons in Zahedan, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Gorgan, Isfahan, and Boroujerd — mostly on charges related to drug trafficking.
The surge in executions has notably coincided with the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, raising concerns that the political shift may be linked to the rise in capital punishments, Khaama News reported.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group stated the actual number of executions is likely higher, as many cases are not publicly disclosed. Afghan prisoners, the group highlighted, often face trial without legal representation and lack the means to communicate with the outside world. Many have no familial support in Iran, rendering them nearly invisible within the prison system, according to Amu TV.
In 2024 alone, over 80 Afghan nationals were reportedly executed in Iran, making Afghans the largest group of non-Iranian nationals subjected to capital punishment in the country.
The international community, including the United Nations, has voiced strong concern over the rising executions and called for investigations into reports of Afghan casualties along the Iran-Afghanistan border. The UN has stressed the importance of upholding migrant rights and ensuring due process in line with international human rights law.
