Amnesty International has reported an ‘alarming’ increase in the use of the death penalty against the Baloch minority, reports DailyStar. Despite international outcry, several Iranians with dual citizenship have also been executed. Habib Farajullah Chab, a Swedish-Iranian dual citizen, was killed on Saturday, drawing strong condemnation from the Swedish government. Iranian prosecutors have claimed Chahab was behind a 2018 terror attack on a military parade in Khuzestan province that killed dozens.
Hanged as MI-6 agent
Iran’s former deputy defense minister, Alireza Akbari, was reportedly executed in January on charges of passing nuclear secrets to the British government. Iran claimed that 62-year-old Akbari was an MI-6 agent. Although Britain’s intelligence agency never accepted any involvement with him. “International reactions to the death penalty against protesters have made it difficult for the Iranian regime to execute them,” said IHR director Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam.
582 people killed in 2022
“To spread fear among the people, the authorities have intensified the death penalty for non-political charges,” he said. The IHR says Iran will execute at least 582 prisoners in 2022, the highest number since 2015. In 2021, the same figure was a very low 333. In its annual report on the death penalty in the country, the body said, “In 2022, Iran’s authorities showed how important the death penalty is to instill social fear in order to maintain a tight grip on power.”