Iran parliament to mull plan ending death penalty for drug offences

The urgency plan was approved by 147 MPs voted in favour, 21 against and 4 abstained.

Murder, rape, armed robbery and trafficking of drugs in quantities exceeding 5 kilograms are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.

Iran ranks second after China in terms of the number of executions, according to ILNA.

Without specifically referring to drugs, Iran’s Justice Minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, announced in October that the death penalty is applied as punishment in too many cases.

Pourmohammadi’s comments came shortly before it was announced that a motion signed by 76 MPs has been submitted to parliament with the aim of ruling out the death penalty for first-time drug smugglers.