Date: March 24, 2026
To: Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian Prisons Organization, and relevant authorities in Iran
We, the undersigned, express our deep concern regarding the situation of Afghan prisoners sentenced to death in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, and call for an immediate halt to executions and the urgent transfer of these prisoners to Afghanistan.
In light of repeated reports of violations of fair trial standards, lack of effective access to legal counsel, and executions carried out without adequate notice to families, the continuation of this practice stands in clear contradiction to fundamental human rights principles. It places the lives of many prisoners at imminent risk.
Given the existence of a formal agreement between Iran and Afghanistan on the transfer of sentenced persons, there is a viable and lawful alternative to irreversible punishment. These individuals can be transferred to Afghanistan to serve their sentences under conditions that allow for the application of alternative penalties.
Background
Overall figures and types of charges
According to statements by Iranian officials, more than 8,000 foreign nationals are imprisoned in Iran, the majority of whom are Afghan citizens (Entekhab, November 2024). The most common charges against these Afghan prisoners are drug-related offenses, particularly trafficking, alongside charges such as irregular entry and other ordinary crimes. The Taliban has also stated that approximately 14,000 Afghan nationals are imprisoned worldwide, around 8,000 of whom are in Iran, although disaggregated data by type of offense has not yet been published, and efforts to compile such data are ongoing (BBC Dari, November 12, 2025).
Drug offenses and the death penalty
Iran provides for the death penalty for a range of drug-related offenses, especially large-scale trafficking, and for years, a significant proportion of executions in the country have been linked to such charges. Human rights reports and media coverage in recent years indicate that Afghan nationals remain disproportionately represented among those executed for drug offenses. For example, in the winter of 2025, three Afghan nationals, along with two others, were reportedly executed in Bandar Abbas in connection with drug cases.
Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan
Isfahan Central Prison, known as Dastgerd, is a high-density men’s prison that has been repeatedly cited in human rights reports as a site of numerous executions, particularly in drug-related cases. Iran Human Rights has reported that in May 2024, ten men were executed over the course of two days in Dastgerd Prison, including at least one Afghan national, identified as “Dela Agha Habib,” who had been sentenced to death on drug charges. The report emphasizes that Afghan nationals constitute the largest group of non-Iranian prisoners on death row and among those executed in Iranian prisons, and that executions of Afghan nationals have generally increased since 2021. In 2023 alone, at least 25 Afghan nationals were executed in Iran, some of them in Isfahan and Dastgerd.
Additional reports document executions of Afghan nationals in Dastgerd. In October 2025, for example, the execution of a 26-year-old Afghan national, Hazrat Eshaqzai, was reported in connection with charges of possession and transportation of narcotics, without full disclosure of case details or even his complete identity.
Beyond drug-related charges, human rights sources have also reported executions of Afghan nationals in Dastgerd on charges of intentional homicide, under the principle of qisas, or retributive justice. For instance, in July 2025, two prisoners, including an Afghan national identified as Ghorban Zein al-Nouri, were executed on murder charges.
Trial conditions and legal status
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have stated that many individuals convicted of drug-related offenses in Iran, including Afghan nationals, are sentenced following grossly unfair trials, including a lack of effective access to legal counsel, delayed notification of execution, and the risk of coerced confessions. In the case of Afghan nationals, it has been reported that executions have at times been carried out without prior notification to families, without transparent or public hearings, and in some instances without the prisoner being informed until the final moments. The irregular legal status of many Afghan migrants in Iran, their limited familiarity with the language and legal system, and their lack of access to chosen legal representation all increase the risk of violations of their defense rights.
Transfer of prisoners to Afghanistan
Since 2006, Iran and Afghanistan have maintained a bilateral agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons, under which Afghan prisoners in Iran may be transferred to Afghanistan to serve the remainder of their sentences. In practice, groups of Afghan prisoners, most of them convicted of drug-related offenses, have periodically been transferred. For example, in previous years, 197 prisoner transfers have been recorded. In November 2025, Mehr News Agency reported that 292 Afghan prisoners were transferred from Iranian prisons to Taliban authorities at the Dogharoun–Islam Qala border crossing, most of them convicted of drug-related offenses. Since 2023, Taliban authorities have repeatedly and publicly requested that Iran transfer Afghan nationals sentenced to death in drug cases to Afghanistan, where alternative punishments, including long-term imprisonment, compulsory labor, or fines, may be applied.
Demands
We call on the relevant authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran to:
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Immediately halt all executions of Afghan nationals in Dastgerd Prison and other detention facilities;
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Transfer all Afghan prisoners sentenced to death, particularly in drug-related cases, to Afghanistan under the existing bilateral agreement;
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Ensure that, prior to any enforcement of sentences, fair trial guarantees are upheld, including access to independent legal counsel and timely notification to families;
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Allow independent domestic and international bodies to monitor the situation of these prisoners.
Halting these executions and utilizing existing legal mechanisms for prisoner transfer is a necessary step toward safeguarding human life and upholding fundamental human rights principles.
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