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Will Iran stop executions for drug offenses?

Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council, has been joined by other officials in his repeated calls to cut down on executions for drug offenses.
An Iranian anti-narcotics policeman stands guard beside a display of confiscated drugs during a ceremony concluding anti-narcotics manoeuvres in Zahedan, 1,605 kilometers (1,003 miles) southeast of Tehran May 20, 2009.  The head of the U.N. crime agency praised Iran during a visit on Wednesday for curbing the flow of smuggled heroin from Afghanistan and helping keep the drug off Western streets.  Picture taken May 20, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTXKL1B

Nearly a year and a half after announcing that Iran would reconsider its frequent execution of drug offenders, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council, is still calling for Iran to lower its execution rate for drug-related crimes.

Speaking to reporters at a May 16 conference titled “Finding the court’s role in protecting the accused,” Larijani couched his concerns in diplomatic terms, saying, “We need to have a [better] method to fight against drugs. It’s possible that execution is not the only path, or that high execution rates do not have a desirable result. We recommend that the legislation … be reconsidered.”

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