Saudi Executes Six Iranians For Drug Trafficking
In 2024, Saudi Arabia carried out 117 executions for drug-related offences, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Saudi Arabia has executed six Iranians convicted of drug trafficking.
The Ministry of Interior stated in a statement that the individuals were executed in Dammam, on the kingdom’s Gulf coast, for “clandestinely introducing hashish” into the country, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reports.
In 2024, Saudi Arabia carried out 117 executions for drug-related offences, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
This comes as part of a broader anti-drugs campaign launched in 2023, which saw authorities conducting raids and arrests across the kingdom.
The use of the death penalty for drug charges increased following the end of a moratorium on such executions two years ago.
Human rights groups regularly criticise Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty, but the kingdom defends it as necessary to maintain public order and ensure justice after appeals are exhausted.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 after attacks on its embassy and consulate in Tehran and Mashhad, triggered by the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Ties were restored in March 2023 through a China-brokered agreement.
Amnesty International reports that Saudi Arabia conducted the third-highest number of executions globally in 2023, following China and Iran. The organisation has documented executions in the kingdom since the 1990s.
