MNA – Member of the Parliament's Judicial and Legal Commission Ali Bakhtiar said the capital punishment for drug traffickers was commuted to a prison sentence of 25 to 30 years, after final approval of an amendment to Iran’s drug law.


Speaking to Mehr News correspondent on Sunday, Bakhtiar said the Judicial and Legal Commission passed the amendment to Article 46 of the Law Against Drug Trafficking.

The decision should be approved by Parliament and the Council of Guardians.

Initially, the amendment included revisions, which made the death penalty applicable for organized drug lords, armed trafficking, repeat offenders and bulk drug distributors.

Under the new bill, Bakhtiar noted, the death penalty for non-band drug traffickers and smugglers who were unarmed and had no previous execution or life imprisonment convictions, will be converted to 25 to 30 years of imprisonment.