Saudi Arabia sentence six Iranians to death for drug smuggling

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said that the Gulf state has sentenced six Iranians to death on charges of drug smuggling.

According to a report by a foreign news agency, a statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s official news agency ‘SPA’ said that the six people were sentenced to death on charges of ‘secretly bringing hashish’ to Dammam on the Gulf coast.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi ambassador and lodged a ‘strong protest’ against the violation of ‘international law’s rules and regulations’.

A statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the Saudi ambassador to Tehran has been summoned and Tehran has strongly protested against Riyadh’s move and called it unacceptable.

It is pertinent to note that at least 338 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2024, which is not only a huge increase from the 170 recorded in 2023, but also the highest annual number in the past decade.

Human rights organization Amnesty International said that previously, 196 executions were carried out in 2022 and 192 in 1995.

According to the agency’s data, at least 117 of those executed last year were drug traffickers.

The rate of executions of drug offenders has increased since Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on the death penalty for drug crimes two years ago.

In 2023, authorities launched an anti-drug publicity campaign that included a series of raids and arrests.

Saudi Arabia has become a major market for drug addicts, who were produced in large quantities during the civil war in Syria.

In September, more than 30 Arab and international human rights organizations condemned the “rapid increase” in the number of death sentences for people convicted of drug offenses.