Every man in an Iranian village in Sistan and Baluchistan has been executed

Every man in an Iranian village has reportedly been executed by the government on drug charges.

Shahindokht Molaverdi, the vice president for women and family affairs, was arguing for increased provision for convicts’ families when she made the admission.

“We have a village in Sistan and Baluchestan (province) where every single man has been executed,” she told the Mehr news agency.

“Today their children are potential drug traffickers; either because they will seek revenge for the deaths of their fathers or because they will need to financially provide for their families, as a result of lack of support by the government.”

It was unclear when the men in the unnamed village died or whether the executions were carried out at once or over an extended period of time.

Ms Molaverdi argued that society was responsible for the families of executed convicts and said a dropped welfare programme had been reinstated.

Her comments were translated by the Iran Human Rights group, which said several hundred people are hanged on drug charges ever year in Iran, mostly from marginalised groups and ethnic minorities.

“Iranian authorities have repeatedly admitted that the death penalty has not solved the problem of drug trafficking, but they still continue to execute people for drug charges,” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a spokesperson of Iran Human Rights said.

Independent.co.uk