IRAN: 18 PRISONERS EXECUTED

December 24, 2013: Eighteen people were executed in Iran between 16 and 18 December 2013, in three different cities.
On 16 December, four prisoners were hanged on charge of murder in the central prison of Orumieh, reported the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) identified them as Payman Mohammadi, Mehdi Agir Kaffash, Hossein Aghazadeh and Qader Neikandish.
On the same day, one man, identified as Abdolaziz Raessi, was hanged in Zahedan central prison, reported the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC).
On 17 December, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, another prisoner, Naser Gomshadzehi, was hanged in Zahedan. He had been sentenced to death on charge of murder and was in Zahedan prison since 2009.
On 18 December, another prisoner with the same charge, Mehdi Javanmard, was hanged in the central prison of Zahedan.
On 18 December, three other prisoners were hanged on charge of murder in Orumieh. They were identified by the HRANA as Iraj Nasiri, Ahmad Shakouri and Changiz Salehi. The three men, along with two other prisoners, were transferred to solitary confinement in Orumieh prison the day before. The fate of two other prisoners was unknown. Iraj Nasiri had less than fifteen years of age at the time of his arrest, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
On the same day, eight prisoners were hanged in the morning in Rajai Shahr prison of Karaj, HRANA reported. Some of them were transferred to Rajai Shahr prison from Ghezelhesar prison and some others were from the wards 5, 2 and 7 of Rajai Shahr prison. The identities and charges of these 8 prisoners are unknown and the authorities have not published any report about them.