DUBAI: Following a year in which it carried out a record number of executions, the interior ministry of Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday that it had executed six Iranians for drug trafficking, according to a tally of official media.
The ministry stated in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency said the six were put to death near Dammam, on the Gulf coast, for “clandestinely introducing hashish” into the kingdom, though it did not say when.
According to the foreign ministry in Tehran, Iran called on the Saudi ambassador to hear a “strong protest” against the “unacceptable” breach of “the rules and norms of international law.”
The ministry claimed in a statement that “Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Tehran was summoned” and that Tehran expressed its “strong protest” about Riyadh’s move, calling it “unacceptable” and a breach of “the rules and norms of international law.”
Riyadh’s envoy is called by Tehran on the executions.
At least 338 executions were carried out by Saudi Arabia in 2024, the most in decades and a significant increase from the 170 that were noted in 2023. The previous highs, according to human rights organization Amnesty International, which has been keeping track of executions in the country since the 1990s, were 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995.
According to the agency’s count, at least 117 of those executed last year were convicted drug traffickers.
Since the kingdom lifted a ban on the death penalty for drug offenses two years ago, there has been a surge in the execution of drug traffickers who have been found guilty.
Authorities conducted a number of raids and arrests as part of a widely reported anti-drug campaign in 2023.
The addictive psychostimulant captagon, which was manufactured in vast amounts in Syria during the civil conflict that resulted in the fall of longstanding leader Bashar al-Assad last month, has found a significant market in Saudi Arabia.
More than 30 international and Arab human rights organizations condemned the “sharp increase” in executions of drug-related convictions in September.
“A sharp rise”
Another record of 338 executions in 2024 included 129 foreigners. Twenty-five Yemenis, twenty-four Pakistanis, seventeen Egyptians, sixteen Syrians, fourteen Nigerians, thirteen Jordanians, and seven Ethiopians were among them.
The world was outraged when Saudi Arabia killed 81 people for “terrorist crimes” on a single day in March 2022. Amnesty, which has not yet released its 2024 statistics, says that Saudi Arabia executed more individuals in 2023 than only China and Iran.
According to Saudi officials, the death penalty is only applied when all other options for appeal have been exhausted and is required to preserve public order.
Following attacks on its diplomatic posts in Tehran and Mashhad by demonstrators incensed by the murder of preacher Nimr al-Nimr, the monarchy broke off ties with Iran in 2016. Following a reunion mediated by China, diplomatic relations were reestablished in March 2023.
