Iran’s regime executed two men based on anti-gay charges

Iran’s regime frequently uses the charge of sodomy to impose the death penalty on gays and lesbians.

The Islamic Republic of Iran continued its lethal homophobic policy, executing on Sunday two men based on its anti-gay Sharia law system.

The two Iranian men, Mehrdad Karimpou and Farid Mohammadi, were killed in the Maragheh prison in northwestern Iran, according to the organization Human Rights Network in Iran. The men were arrested six years ago.

Iran’s regime frequently uses the charge of sodomy to impose the death penalty on gays and lesbians. According to a 2008 British Wikipedia dispatch, Iran’s theocratic state executed between 4,000 and 6,000 gays and lesbians since the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Human Rights Network in Iran said the Iranian regime-controlled media has not reported on the executions of the two men based on the country’s anti-gay law.

“The two Iranian men were executed today after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality," Iran Human Rights Monitor tweeted. "Human rights websites identified the men as 32-year-old Mehrdad Karimpour & Farid Mohammadi. They were arrested 6 years ago & were in Maragheh prison until their execution.”

"The Ayatollah regime in Iran just executed two gay men for the crime of sodomy in Iran," The Iranian-American journalist Karmel Melamed tweeted. He added their pictures and asked, "Where's the outrage from US Secretary of State Antony Bliken, GLAAD [an NGO that promotes LGBTQ acceptance] & other LGBT groups in the US to this horrific crime?!"

Peter Tatchell, an LGBTQ+ and human-rights campaigner, told The Jerusalem Post: "Iran is one of a dozen Muslim-majority countries and regions that enforce Sharia law and impose the death penalty for homosexuality. The execution of these men follows a long-standing regime policy of the state-sanctioned murder of gay men, often on disputed charges after unfair trials that have been condemned by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The British activist Tatchell said: "The international community must impose Magnitsky sanctions on the regime officials, judges and prison staff who authorized these executions - and on those responsible for the many other human rights cases of abuse in Iran, including the hanging of peaceful Kurdish, Baluch and Ahwazi Arab activists on fake terrorism charges."

Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident who fled to Germany to escape persecution, told The Jerusalem Post: "The prisons of the Islamic Republic is full of people who have committed no crime and the leaked footage of Evin prison proved that. The Islamic Republic in Iran is based on injustice, to make it more clear I want to remind you of Saeed Toosi, the prominent Quran reciter and teacher who's Ali Khamenei's favorite Quran reciter. He was accused by 19 of his former underage Quran students of sexual molestation and rape but he had the Supreme Leader's protection and his case was ignored by the authorities."

Vojoudi, who has blasted the Iranian regime's anti-LGBTQ policies, added: "Why someone like him who rapes children can continue his career freely but the transgenders and homosexuals must be arrested or executed? There's no justice and humanity in the Islamic Republic. The democratic countries and the free world maybe should start to think about their relations with the Islamic Republic."

The new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, declared in an anti-gay tirade in 2014 that same-sex relations are “nothing but savagery.”

In December, the 6G Iranian and Lesbian and Transgender Network reported on its website that an Iranian lesbian named Sarah was arrested in the province of West Azerbaijan while seeking to cross the border into Turkey.

Last year, a leading Iranian regime theater director Ghotbedin Sadeghi delivered a homophobic rant against Iran’s persecuted LGBTQ community in March, prompting outrage from activists over his anti-gay rhetoric.

In January, 2019, The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran’s regime publicly hanged a man on homosexuality charges.

In 2016, The Jerusalem Post reported Iran’s regime had executed a gay adolescent that year – the first confirmed execution of someone convicted as a juvenile in the Islamic Republic.

Source: jpost.com, Benjamin Weinthal, January 30, 2022

Iran executes 2 gay men over sodomy charges

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has executed two gay men who were convicted on charges of sodomy and spent six years on death row, a rights group reported.

Homosexuality is illegal in Iran, considered one of the most repressive places in the world for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

According to a report on Sunday by the Human Rights Activists News Agency, the two men were identified as Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi.

They were sentenced to death for “forced sexual intercourse between two men” and hanged in a prison in the northwestern city of Maragheh, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the capital, Tehran.

Last July, two other men were executed on the same charges in Maragheh, the group said. It added that last year, Iran executed 299 people, including four convicted of crimes committed as children.

Last October, the U.N.’s independent investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman told the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee that Iran continues to implement the death penalty “at an alarming rate.”

Under Iranian law, sodomy, rape, adultery, armed robbery and murder are among crimes that can lead to the death penalty.

Source: The Associated Press, Staff, February 1, 2022

🚩 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

Texas inmate seeks to stop looming execution after codefendant confesses to double murder

In his appeal, James Broadnax, who wants a new trial, included a signed confession by his cousin saying he committed the 2008 Garland murders. With just 42 days remaining until his scheduled execution by lethal injection on April 30, 2026, in Huntsville, Texas death row inmate James Broadnax, 37, filed a new appeal Thursday with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, seeking to stay the date, remand his case for a new trial, and ultimately vacate his death sentence for the 2008 capital murders of music producers Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside their Zion Gate Records studio in Garland. A fabricated story The appeal centers on a signed written declaration from Broadnax's cousin and codefendant, Demarius Cummings, 37—dated March 11 and obtained by media outlets in which Cummings confesses that he alone planned the June 19, 2008, robbery, obtained the pistol used in the crime, and fired the fatal shots during the botched holdup that netted only $2 in cash and a 1995 Fo...

Iranian Gay Activist: "They Forced Me to Watch Executions So I Would Know How Mine Would Be"

Iranian LGBT activist now living as a refugee in Spain. He was sentenced to death by the ayatollah regime for being homosexual and for his support campaign for the community. "The enemy was already at home," he says about the current war In 11 countries around the world, homosexuality is punishable by death - it is criminalized in almost 70 countries. One of them is the Islamic Republic of Iran, from where Ramtin Zigorat (Tabriz, 1988) managed to escape after avoiding a death sentence and enduring the worst tortures. He has been living as a refugee in Spain for six and a half years. Question . His life, his testimony, can help us better understand what the Iranian Islamist regime is. I believe that until adolescence, you did not fully understand that you were homosexual.

Once Nevada’s youngest on death row, double murderer paroled as victims’ family claims silence from state

LAS VEGAS — A man who once stood as the youngest person on Nevada’s death row has officially transitioned from a life behind bars to a life under supervision, following his release from High Desert State Prison last month. Edward Michael Domingues, 49, was released on parole on Feb. 13, 2026. His freedom marks the end of 32 consecutive years of incarceration for the 1993 murders of Arjin Chanel Pechpho and her 4-year-old son, Jonathan Smith. Since his release, the case has ignited a renewed debate over Nevada’s victim notification systems. Tawin Eshelman, the mother and grandmother of the victims, confirmed that the family was never formally notified of the parole hearing that led to Domingues' freedom.

Georgia | 11th Circuit confirms lethal injection execution for Georgia inmate wanting firing squad

In his complaint, Michael Wade Nance said his veins were so severely compromised that they were likely to blow and cause him to suffer “excruciating pain” during the execution. ATLANTA (CN) — A panel for the 11th Circuit on Thursday upheld a judge’s ruling against a death row inmate who sought an execution by a firing squad instead of lethal injection. The decision paves the way for the state’s long-awaited execution of Michael Wade Nance, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death over 25 years ago. In a unanimous opinion, the circuit judges agreed with a federal judge’s conclusion that Nance failed to prove lethal injection was likely to cause him an unconstitutional level of pain or discomfort.

Arizona | Death Row Inmate Challenges Execution Warrant, Citing 2025 Cyberattack and Protocol Failures

Leroy Dean McGill was sentenced to death for a 2002 gasoline attack in North Phoenix against a couple, Charles Perez and Nova Banta. PHOENIX — Attorneys for Arizona death row inmate Leroy Dean McGill have formally challenged the state’s attempt to secure an execution warrant, citing a catastrophic 2025 cyberattack and a long history of troubled lethal injection protocols. The challenge comes as Arizona seeks to resume capital punishment following a year-long hiatus. If the Arizona Supreme Court grants the state’s request, McGill would become the first person executed in the state since 2024.

Taiwan’s Oldest Death Row Prisoner Denied Retrial by Supreme Court

TAIWAN’S OLDEST DEATH ROW prisoner, Wang Xin-fu, has been denied a retrial by the Supreme Court. This occurs despite the fact that Wang has consistently maintained his innocence and, in fact, did not commit the murders for which he is on death row. In particular, Wang was sentenced to capital punishment in 2006 over the killing of two police officers at a karaoke bar in 1990. The shooting was committed by Chen Rong-jie, who was then 19. Wang was accused of ordering the hit. It is believed that Wang’s confession of guilt was extracted through torture and intimidation.

Florida executes Michael King

Killer of stay-at-home mom whose death led to 911 reform is executed Michael King kidnapped Denise Amber Lee from her Florida home in broad daylight in 2008. If it weren't for a botched 911 call, Lee may have survived the ordeal. Florida has executed a death row inmate for the rape and murder of a stay-at-home mom whose death exposed the vulnerabilities of the 911 system nationwide and led to reform within the industry. Michael King, 54, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, March 17, for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee. King abducted the married mother of 2 young sons from her home in broad daylight on Jan. 17, 2008, less than an hour before Lee's husband returned from work.

Florida Supreme Court halts execution of police officer convicted of raping, murdering girl

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — The execution of a former Florida police officer convicted of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl was temporarily halted Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court. The court issued a stay in execution for 68-year-old James Aren Duckett, who was scheduled to receive a three-drug injection Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke. Duckett was sentenced to death in 1988 after being convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery.

Alabama | Death row inmate granted clemency shares emotional message on day he was set to die

Alabama governor commuted death sentence of Charles Burton, 75, who didn't kill anyone An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as "a gift from God" after being granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed. Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead in 1991. While Burton left the store before Derrick DeBruce gunned down customer Doug Battle, he was tried and convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors insisting Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog