Tehran: Human rights groups have spoken out against the Iranian government’s one-day execution of 12 people, including a minority woman. The Norwegian – based human rights group Iran’s human rights group said on Monday morning that the men had been charged with murder and drug trafficking.

All of those hanged were Sunni Baloch Sunnis, a minority in Iran. The woman was charged with murdering her husband in 2019. The drug case is against six people. The execution took place in the Sahedan prison in Sistan-Balochistan province, near the Afghan-Pakistani border. The executions were not reported by Iranian media.

The human rights group said the government’s stance on minorities in Iran was “worrying”. Last year, 333 people were hanged in Iran. It is estimated that more than 20 per cent of them are minorities.

Amnesty International points out that the number of executions in the country is on the rise. The National Council of Resistance of Iran alleges that the government has intensified its measures, including the death penalty, to quell growing popular unrest in the country. At the same time, the Iranian government has not yet responded to the incident.