Skip to main content

Iran | Executions in Nahavand, Qazvin, Tabriz, Miandoab, Yazd, Karaj, Zanjan, Khaf

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 25, 2024: Vahid Abbasi, a Kurdish man sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Nahavand Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Nahavand Prison on 22 August. His identity has been established as 33-year-old Vahid Abbasi who was arrested for murder three years ago. He was sentenced to qisas by the Criminal Court.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness. Crucially, while an indicative amount is set by the Judiciary every year, there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money.

In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.

Execution in Qazvin


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 25, 2024: Abbas Rashidi, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Qazvin Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Qazvin (Choobindar) Central Prison on 24 August. His identity has been established as 45-year-old Abbas Rashidi who was sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Abbas Rashidi was a father of two and a painter prior to arrest. He was arrested three years ago.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

Execution in Tabriz


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 23, 2024: Mohammad Khaled Jahangiri, a Kurdish man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Tabriz Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Tabriz Central Prison on 22 August. His identity has been established as Mohammad Khaled Jahangiri, a Kurdish man from the village of Balu in Urmia. He was sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mohammad Khaled Jahangiri was married with two children. He was arrested for drug offences five years ago.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Execution in Miandoab


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 22, 2024: Mohammad Daghestani, a Kurdish man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Miandoab Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Miandoab Prison on 21st August. His identity has been established as 49-year-old Mohammad Daghestani from Haki village in Urmia. He was sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mohammad Daghestani was a Kurdish citizen who had two wives and was arrested for carrying 200 kilograms of narcotics around two years ago.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Execution in Yazd


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 21, 2024: State media reported the execution of an unnamed man for rape and sexual assault charges at an unspecified prison in Yazd.

According to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency and quoting Hossein Tahmasebi, the Yazd province head of judiciary, a man was executed at an unspecified prison at an unspecified date.

The man was arrested for rape and sexual assault charges around five years ago and sentenced to death.

Hossein Tahmasebi said: “The individual raped multiple girls and women after luring them as a fortune teller who claimed to be a person who writes prayers.”

In cases of rape, there is a high chance of defendants being tortured to make false confessions, which is used to issue death sentences. In Iran is one of the few countries in the world that issues the death penalty for rape. A lot of cases are also rushed without the defendants having access to a lawyer.

According to the 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 20 people were executed for rape charges in 2022 compared to 23 in 2022 and 10 in 2021.

Executions in Karaj


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 20, 2024: Mohammad Karamizadeh and Esmail Javadi were executed for murder charges in Ghezelhesar Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 19 August. Their identities have been established as Mohammad Karamizadeh and Esmail Javadi who were both sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

HRANA news agency which first reported news of the executions reported that Mohammad Karamizadeh was in prison for drug-related charges when he killed his wife during a conjugal visit, and Esmail Javadi was accused of killing his friend in an honour killing.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Executions in Tabriz


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 20, 2024: Abbas Alayi Aghbolagh and Ali Azmoun were executed for drug-related charges in Tabriz Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Tabriz Central Prison on 18 August. Their identities have been established as Abbas Alayi Aghbolagh (photo) and Ali Azmoun who were sentenced to death for drug-related offences.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Abbas Alayi Aghbolagh was from Aghbolagh village in Meshgin Shahr and was arrested around four years ago. Ali Azmoun was arrested around two years ago.”

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Executions in Zanjan


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 20, 2024: Mehdi Piri and Mazaher Ayouzi were executed for drug-related and murder charges in Zanjan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Zanjan Central Prison on 19 August. Their identities have been established as 31-year-old Mehdi Piri from Shirvan and 35-year-old Mazaher Ayouzi, a father of one.

Mehdi Piri was arrested for drug-related offences around two years ago and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court. Mazaher Ayouzi was arrested for murder charges around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Execution in Khaf


Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 20, 2024: State media reported the execution of an unnamed man for murder charges at an unspecified prison in Khaf, Khorasan Razavi province.

According IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency and quoting the Khaf public prosecutor, a man was executed on 15 August at an unspecified prison. The unnamed man was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder after being arrested around three years ago.

It is believed that the man was executed in Mashhad Central Prison or another Khorasan Razavi prison.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, August 20-25, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________








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

— Oscar Wilde



Most viewed (Last 7 days)

Boston Marathon bomber’s appeal of death sentence marked by delays and secrecy

As the city marks the 12th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sits on federal death row for admittingly detonating bombs at the finish line that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. Yet, his fate remains uncertain after a decade of legal wrangling, as his lawyers continue to challenge his death sentence.  The federal judge who presided over his 2015 trial was ordered by an appeals court in March 2024 to investigate defense claims that two jurors were biased and should have been stricken from the panel. If he finds they were, then Tsarnaev is entitled to a new trial over whether he should be sentenced to life in prison or death, according to the appeals court. 

USA | Who are the death row executioners? Disgraced doctors, suspended nurses and drunk drivers

These are just the US executioners we know. But they are a chilling indication of the executioners we don’t know Being an executioner is not the sort of job that gets posted in a local wanted ad. Kids don’t dream about being an executioner when they grow up, and people don’t go to school for it. So how does one become a death row executioner in the US, and who are the people doing it? This was the question I couldn’t help but ask when I began a book project on lethal injection back in 2018. I’m a death penalty researcher, and I was trying to figure out why states are so breathtakingly bad at a procedure that we use on cats and dogs every day. Part of the riddle was who is performing these executions.

Singapore executes man for 2017 murder of pregnant wife and daughter

Teo Ghim Heng, who strangled his pregnant wife and four-year-old daughter in 2017 before burning their bodies, was executed on 16 April 2025 after exhausting all legal avenues. His clemency pleas were rejected and his conviction upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2022. Teo Ghim Heng, who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their four-year-old daughter in 2017, was executed on 16 April 2025. The Singapore Prison Service confirmed that Teo’s death sentence was carried out at Changi Prison Complex. In a news release on the same day, the police stated: “He was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel both at the trial and at the appeal. His petitions to the President for clemency were unsuccessful.”

USA | They were on federal death row. Now they may go to a supermax prison.

A group of federal prisoners filed a lawsuit this week accusing the Trump administration of seeking to move them to a supermax prison to face tougher conditions as punishment for having their death sentences commuted by President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life in prison without parole. After his inauguration, Trump ordered that the former death row prisoners be housed “in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”

Indonesia | British grandmother who has spent 12 years on death row hugs grandchildren for first time as they visit Bali prison

Lindsay Sandiford, 68, reportedly shared 'cuddles and kisses' with her loved ones for the first time in years A British grandmother who has been stuck on death row in Bali for more than a decade has been reunited with her loved ones for the first time in years. Lindsay Sandiford has been locked up in Indonesia's notorious Kerobokan Prison since 2013 after being found guilty of trying to smuggle £1.6million of cocaine into the country.

Indiana Supreme Court sets May 20 execution date for death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie

The condemned man has exhausted his appeals but is likely to seek a clemency plea. Indiana Supreme Court justices on Tuesday set a May 20 execution date for death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie, who was convicted in 2002 for killing a law enforcement officer from Beech Grove. The high court’s decision followed a series of exhausted appeals previously filed by Ritchie and his legal team. The inmate’s request for post-conviction relief was denied in Tuesday’s 13-page order, penned by Chief Justice Loretta Rush, although she disagreed with the decision in her opinion.

Afghanistan | Four men publicly executed by Taliban with relatives of victims shooting them 'six or seven times' at sport stadium

Four men have been publicly executed by the Taliban, with relatives of their victims shooting them several times in front of spectators at a sport stadium. Two men were shot around six to seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the centre of Afghanistan's Badghis province, witnesses told an AFP journalist in the city.  The men had been 'sentenced to retaliatory punishment' for shooting other men, after their cases were 'examined very precisely and repeatedly', the statement said.  'The families of the victims were offered amnesty and peace but they refused.'

South Carolina executes Mikal Mahdi

Mikal Mahdi, 42, was executed for the 2004 murder of 56-year-old James Myers A man facing the death penalty for committing two murders was executed by firing squad on Friday, the second such execution in the US state of South Carolina this year. Mikal Mahdi, 42, was executed for the 2004 murder of 56-year-old James Myers, an off-duty police officer, and the murder of a convenience store employee three days earlier. According to a statement from the prison, "the execution was performed by a three-person firing squad at 6:01 pm (2201 GMT)," with Mahdi pronounced dead four minutes later.

Louisiana to seek death penalty for child killer despite Biden’s commutation

CATAHOULA PARISH, La. — While a federal death row sentence has been reclassified by former President Joe Biden to life without parole, the State of Louisiana still seeks the death penalty for a man convicted of the kidnapping, torturing and murdering a child in Catahoula Parish.  According to a statement by the Seventh Judicial District of Louisiana District Attorney Bradley Burget, on Monday, a Catahoula Parish Grand Jury indicted Thomas Steven Sanders for the first-degree murder of 12-year-old Lexis Kaye Roberts in 2010. 

Texas executes Moises Mendoza

Moises Sandoval Mendoza receives lethal injection in Huntsville for death of 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson  A Texas man convicted of fatally strangling and stabbing a young mother more than 20 years ago was executed on Wednesday evening.  Moises Sandoval Mendoza received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 6.40pm, authorities said. He was condemned for the March 2004 killing of 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson.