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Iran Hangs 11 on Drug Charges in 48 Hrs

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Hangs 11 on Drug Charges in 48 Hrs

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran hanged 11 on drugs charges within a 48-hour period, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Wednesday.

They were hanged between the early morning on Sunday and early Tuesday, it noted.

The group added that it recorded a total of 61 executions across Iran in July as Iran presses ahead with a surge in capital punishment that has now seen the country put to death 423 people this year.

Campaigners accuse Iran of using capital punishment as an instrument to spread fear throughout the population in the wake of the protest movement that erupted last September over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22. The Iranian-Kurdish woman had been detained for allegedly flouting the Islamic republic's strict dress rules for women.

Eight men were executed on drugs charges in the main prison of Zahedan between July 30 and August 1, it said.

Another man was executed on similar charges on July 31 at a prison in Birjand city in the eastern province of Khorosan, it added.

Mohammad Arbab, 30, and 32-year-old Asadollah Amini, two Afghan nationals, were secretly executed in Zabol Prison in Sistan-Baluchistan on 30 and 31 July, it said, AFP reported.

The number of executions in Iran on drug-related charges dropped dramatically in 2018 following amendments to the anti-narcotics law but has surged again since 2021.

Rights groups say the demonstrations were targets of deadly crackdowns by the security forces in Iran's poorest region.

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Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
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Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP

The US Department of Homeland Security said Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government's latest escalation against the educational institution.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced on Wednesday the termination of two DHS grants totaling more than $2.7 million to Harvard, Reuters said.
Noem said she wrote a letter to Harvard demanding records on what she called the "illegal and violent activities" of Harvard's foreign student visa holders by April 30.
"And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students," Noem said in a statement.
A Harvard spokesperson said the university was aware of Noem's letter "regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas."
The spokesperson said the university stood by its statement earlier in the week to "not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights" while saying it will comply with the law.
President Donald Trump's administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian campus protests against US ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza after a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Trump casts the protesters as foreign policy threats who are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza with support for extremism and antisemitism.
The Trump administration is also attempting to deport some foreign protesters and has revoked hundreds of visas across the country.
"With a $53.2 billion endowment, Harvard can fund its own chaos - DHS won't," Noem said, adding an "anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology" existed at Harvard.
Harvard has previously said it worked to fight antisemitism and other prejudice on its campus while preserving academic freedoms and the right to protest.
TRUMP'S CRACKDOWN
The Trump administration said late last month it was reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and grants to Harvard and later called for restrictions - including a mask ban and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs - to be put in place for the university to continue receiving federal money.
Harvard on Monday rejected numerous demands that it said would cede control to the government. The Trump administration subsequently said it was freezing $2.3 billion in funding.
Trump also threatened on Tuesday to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status. CNN reported on Wednesday the US Internal Revenue Service was making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard and that a final decision was expected soon.
Harvard said there was no legal basis to rescind its tax-exempt status, saying such an action will be unprecedented, will diminish its financial aid for students and will lead to abandonment of some critical medical research programs.
Human rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the crackdown by the government.
The Trump administration has frozen or canceled some funding for universities like Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern as well.
It has also threatened to withhold funding over culture war issues such as DEI programs and transgender policies.