Iran's foreign ministry called on Singapore not to proceed with the execution of an Iranian convict, hours after twelve Iranians were hanged in prisons across Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan urged the southeast Asian country to reconsider the execution of Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad for "humanitarian considerations".
Rahimi, a Singaporean-Iranian citizen who is expected to be executed on Friday, was arrested 14 years ago in Singapore on charges of drug trafficking. He was 20 when arrested for possessing 31 grams of diamorphine in Singapore and sentenced to death, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) organization said.
"Executions have never prevented drug-related crimes, and we hope that Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the President of Singapore, will issue a pardon to save Masoud's life," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the IHR director, said on Thursday in an effort to save Masoud.
Born in Singapore to a Singaporean mother and an Iranian father, he was taken to Iran as a child following his parents’ divorce. He returned to Singapore at the age of 17 to complete his mandatory military service, three years before his arrest.
Preaching what not practiced at home
The Iranian foreign minister's call for the reconsideration of Rahimi's execution came hours after Iran executed at least 12 people on illicit drug and murder charges.
Four prisoners were executed in Qazvin Central Prison, four in the prisons of Yazd, Qom and Shahre Kord, three in Shiraz, and one in Nahavand, according to reports by human rights organizations. The 12 prisoners were hanged on Thursday morning for illicit drug and murder charges.
In recent months, Iranian authorities have increasingly resorted to the death penalty despite global outcry. In its November 21 report, HRANA documented at least 133 executions since the past month, averaging more than four per day. This surge follows another statistic from the IHR, which recorded at least 166 executions in October.
HRANA’s reports indicate an average of 811 executions occurred between October 2023 and October 2024, encompassing both political detainees and ordinary prisoners.