Eleven unnamed men are reportedly to be executed tomorrow, 17 January, in Qasr prison, Tehran. On 16 January, Qods newspaper reportedly stated that the eleven individuals had been sentenced to be hanged after being convicted of murder, and that all the sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court.

Amnesty International is also concerned at press reports in Dowran-e Emruz (The Epoch of Today) on 7 January 2001 that the Supreme Court has upheld death sentences on Maryam Ayoubi and Hossein Esna 'Ashari. This report states that the death sentence on Hossein Esna 'Ashari is expected to be carried out "soon" and that Maryam Ayoubi will be stoned following fifteen years' imprisonment. Newspaper reports quoting Khabar (The News) on 16 January repeat that the sentence to death by stoning on Maryam Ayoubi was upheld but does not indicate when it is due to be carried out.

There were reports in August 2000 that a death sentence passed on Maryam Ayoubi had been commuted, but that the death sentence handed down to an accomplice, Hossein Esna 'Ashari, had been upheld. Amnesty International has not been able to confirm these reports.

Amnesty International is also concerned at unconfirmed reports received on 15 January that three men, Ali Hassanzadeh, Mostafa Nikbakht and Mir Jalil Sayed Nazari may be executed in Orumieh, western Iran. The unconfirmed reports suggest that the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's death sentence on murder charges in November 2000 and that the execution may be imminent. Amnesty International is unable to confirm details of the charges on which the men and woman named above were convicted. Iran has carried out at least six executions so far this year.

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