Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani said on Wednesday that no one is executed in Iran for his/her political views and only major drug traffickers, murderers, armed robbers, and rapists are hanged in Iran, Mehr reported.
Larijani made the remarks in response to a report issued by Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.
"In the Islamic Republic of Iran, we definitely do not have any political executions," Larijani said at a meeting of high-ranking Judiciary officials.
He added that some laws about the death penalty are not unique to Iran and all Muslims believe in them.
He went on to say that reports about human rights violations in Iran are written based on the claims and one-sided statements of "the enemies" of the Islamic Republic.
"However," Larijani said, "the Islamic Republic does not pay attention to such biased reports."
But the point is, "why are the enemies of Iran and Islam so unreasonable?"
And why are they protesting about the enforcement of Islamic laws in Iran, the Judiciary chief asked.
Commenting on the war in Afghanistan and its effect on Iran, he said that since the United States began its military intervention in Afghanistan, there has been a manifold increase in opium cultivation in the country, and this has exposed neighboring Iran to "serious" social ills.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said the Judiciary will show no mercy toward thugs and gangs who threaten the security of the people.