BRIAN EGAN AND JOCELYN HUTTON and one Swedish-Iranian national. There are a FOREIGN NATIONALS further 10 foreign nationals whose cases are still A large number of the ‘others’ facing the death penalty in Iran are drawn from other ethnic and religious groups, rather than purely a different nationality. Sometimes, these ‘othering’ factors are under trial, nine of whom are Pakistanis and one, Jamshid Sharmahd, is a German-Iranian. It should be noted that the number of actual sentences and executions is likely to be much higher. compounded. For example, many of the ethnic Of these 87 foreign nationals sentenced to minorities in Iran are also religious minorities, with death, 85 were men and two were women, both of the Baluch, Azerbaijani-Turk, Ahwazi Arab and whom were Afghan women executed on murder Kurdish groups predominantly Sunni Muslim. charges. Sixty-three of the 87 have already been Moreover, citizenship isn’t neatly bounded for executed and 21 await their execution. Two these groups. Carolyn Hoyle and Lucy Harry note Pakistani prisoners were technically allowed to be that “citizenship is a key vector of disadvantage, released following payment of blood money but and increasingly a source of criminalisation,” there is no evidence that they have actually been however in the Iranian context, even domestic released. One of those sentenced to death, Kamal ‘citizenship’ can be nebulous. Those falling outside Solo from Syria, was physically released in July the archetypal Iranian citizen – that is, of Persian 2020, shortly before his scheduled execution. This ethnic origin and Shi’a Muslim religion – are quickly followed intervention by Amnesty International on constructed as non-citizen ‘other,’ with the death grounds that he was not the person who had penalty disproportionately leveraged against them. committed the crime for which he had been These policies have been used to viciously suppress mistakenly sentenced to death. The crimes alleged Kurdish revolts after the Islamic Revolution, in include 37 foreign nationals sentenced to death for addition to quashing other nationalist ethnic murder, 35 for drug offences, four for terrorism, uprisings and ethnically purging the Bahá’í.33 two for rape and robbery, two for treason and one However, this article focuses on non-Iranian for espionage. Those convicted ranged in age nationals. between 13 and 44 at the time of the crime, and 32 Foreign nationals are certainly at a significant disadvantage on death row. The UN Special 20 and 54 at the time of execution. Afghan nationals are particularly Rapporteur on Iran has highlighted that “there are overrepresented for two core reasons. Firstly, persistent concerns about the situation of dual and there is a large refugee and migrant population in foreign nationals who remain imprisoned in the Iran, which is at the socio-economic margins of Islamic Republic of Iran,” many of whom are on society. Secondly, the logistics of drug trafficking Afghan, Iraqi and Pakistani nationals from Afghanistan to Europe via Iran ensure that comprise the majority of these. For example, of the cross-border trafficking involves many Afghan 87 recorded death sentences in Iran for foreign nationals. For example, a leaked U.S. Embassy nationals since 1 January 2016, the Death Penalty report revealed that over 80% of global opium and Research Unit has found 68 of these were Afghan 20% of global heroin was estimated to be nationals, 12 Pakistani nationals, three Iraqi transported through Iran.35 The UN Office on Drugs nationals, two Turkish nationals, one Syrian national and Crime (UNODC) reports that “approximately 34 death row. 5