UN Human Rights Chief Concerned After Iranian Authorities Executed 29 People In The Last Two Days

JAKARTA - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk is deeply concerned about reports Iranian authorities have executed 29 people in the past two days, a spokesman said on Friday.

"This is a very high number of executions in a short time," UN Human Rights Office spokesman Liz Thrsell said.

Although the death toll cannot be independently verified by the United Nations, he said the reported executions made the total number to at least 345 this year, including 15 women.

Earlier, Norwegian-based Iranian human rights group said on Wednesday 29 men including two Afghans and a member of the ethnic Baluch minority had been executed for drug-related murder, rape and crime in the Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj City.

It said at least 87 people had been executed in Iranian prisons since the election of Iran's new relatively moderate President Masoud Pezeshkian in July.

Thlssel said it was very concerning that the majority of the executed people were found guilty of drug-related offenses, with minority groups including Kurdish, Bawassi Arabs and Baluch tribes being disproportionately affected.

"Implementing the death penalty for violations that do not involve intentional killings is not in accordance with international human rights norms and standards," he said.