H.E. Mr. Javad Kachoueian:

As I pointed out earlier, nobody is executed for his or her beliefs. Baha'i is not acceptable as a religion under our constitution but no Baha'i has been executed for his or her beliefs. It is similar for others. The majority of cases of capital punishment in Iran involve drug traffickers. Under Islamic law, the family of the victim can revenge a killing. To solve this problem, we have developed a procedure for working with the families concerned to forgive murderers. Fortunately, it has been very successful thus far and many families have forgiven those who murdered their relatives. We are also trying to find other ways of reducing the rate of capital punishment. Nobody is happy with the number of executions in my country. If the international community can help Iran to prevent narcotic smuggling from Afghanistan, I am sure the number of executions can be reduced.