Iran | Executions in Khorramabad, Urmia, Gorgan, Qom, Zahedan

In the first three weeks of April 2025, at least 65 people have been executed in Iranian prisons.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO): April 22, 2025: Saeed Darikvand, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Khorramabad Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Khorramabad Central Prison on 21 April 2025. His identity has been established as 29-year-old Saeed Darikvand from the Anarrou tribe in Mian Golal village in Khorramabad.

He was arrested for murder three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) 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.

According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 419 people including a juvenile offender and 19 women, were executed for murder charges, the highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 12% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2024, Iran Human Rights also recorded 649 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.

Execution in Urmia

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 21, 2025: Iran state media reported the execution of Kurdish political prisoner Hamid Hosseinnejad Haydaranlu today. According to official reports, Behzad Sarkhanlu, deputy prosecutor of Urmia, informed Hamid’s family that he had been transferred from Urmia Central Prison to Tehran and executed. His execution was carried out secretly.

Condemning Hamid Hosseinnejad Heydaranlu’s execution in the strongest terms, Iran Human Rights calls for greater international efforts to stop the Islamic Republic's execution machine.

IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated: "Hamid Hosseinnejad Heydranlu was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court without observing minimum fair trial standards. His execution is considered an extrajudicial killing and leaders of the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for this crime."

IHRNGO warned about the imminent risk of political prisoner executions over the Easter holidays and called on the international community and countries with diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic to take action to halt and overturn these sentences.

In the first three weeks of April 2025, at least 65 people have been executed in Iranian prisons.

According to Iran state media, Hamid Hosseinnejad Heydaranlu, a 40-year-old Kurdish political prisoner, was executed on 21 April 2025. He was sentenced to death on the charge of baghy (armed rebellion) based on torture-tainted confessions to membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the killing of eight security forces. He was transferred to Tehran for execution, per the deputy Urmia prosecutor.

Hamid’s execution was carried out secretly, without his family or lawyer being notified.

Following the official news, a source close to Hamid’s family told IHRNGO that according to the deputy Urmia prosecutor, Hamid’s execution was carried out in Tehran on Friday, 18 April. “The news of his execution in Tehran took time to reach Urmia. He was probably executed in Tehran. But his case was still pending at Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, which means they weren’t informed of the execution.”

When Hamid’s family asked for his body, they were told “they haven’t sent his body for us to hand over.” According to the source, “the body will never be returned and they will probably be banned from even holding a ceremony.”

A member of Heydranlou’s family told Iran Human Rights on Monday evening that, according to the Urmia prosecutor, the execution had actually been carried out on Friday, and that “Tehran informed Urmia late, and it most likely happened in Tehran, possibly in Evin Prison. Yet the case has just today been sent for review again to Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, meaning even the court was unaware the sentence had been carried out.”

Hamid’s last visit with his family took place on Thursday, 17 April, while he was handcuffed. His last contact with his family was on Friday afternoon when he made a brief phone call in Farsi to just say “I’m alive, follow up on the case.”

Osman Mosayen, the political prisoner’s lawyer, said: “We have filed a request for retrial to stop his execution. Because Hamid is illiterate, he couldn't file the clemency request himself. After the visit, he was returned to solitary confinement.”

The lawyer added: “In 2017, eight border guards were killed in a village in West Azerbaijan Province. In 2022, Hamid Hosseinnejad Heydaranlu was arrested at his home in his own village on charges of smuggling goods. Initially, he was charged with smuggling, but later he was accused of involvement in that terrorist attack. Hamid spent 12 months in the solitary confinement cells of the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention centre in Urmia, without access to a solicitor, phone, or his family. Hamid is completely illiterate. The interrogation documents are entirely in the handwriting of the interrogator, and he merely signed them. In his first appearance before the investigator, he explicitly denied the charges, saying, ‘I did not commit this act; on that day, I was abroad.’ The armed clash reportedly occurred around 3 am, but he stated that by 11 am that same day, he had already crossed the border with his family—including his elderly mother, wife, and two children—into Turkey, with valid passports.”

Hamid Hosseinnejad Heydaranlu is 40 years old and from the Chaldoran region of Urmia where he was arrested by border forces along with several Afghan nationals on 13 April 2023 After his arrest, he was transferred to the Foreign Nationals Detention Centre and later to Ministry of Intelligence facilities in Urmia. He was held in solitary confinement for 12 months, where he was subjected to physical and psychological torture to compel him to confess to collaborating with the PKK and involvement in the 2017 armed conflict that resulted in the death of eight border forces. Hamid was sentenced to death despite evidence that he was not in Iran at the time of the armed conflict.

Execution in Gorgan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 21, 2025: Ahmad Yavari, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Gorgan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Gorgan Central Prison on 17 April 2025. His identity has been established as 40-year-old Ahmad Yavari from Gorgan who was a father to two boys.

He was arrested for murder two years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.

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

Execution Qom

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 21, 2025: Cheraghali Ghasemi, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Qom Central Prison. With the previously reported executions of Feizollah Karami and Sohrab Heydar, the number of executions has risen to three at the prison that day.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Qom Central Prison on 15 April 2025. His identity has been established as Cheraghali Ghasemi who lived in Malard.

He was arrested two years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

IHRNGO previously reported the executions of Feizollah Karami and Sohrab Heydar, the number of executions have risen to three at the prison that day.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 503 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only under 3% were announced by official sources. 17% of all drug-related executions in 2024 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population.

Execution in Zahedan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 20, 2025: Sadollah Gorgij, a Baluch man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Zahedan Central Prison

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Zahedan Central Prison on 20 April 2025. His identity has been established as Sadollah Gorgij, a 29-year-old Baluch man from a village in Saravan.

He was arrested four years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

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

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, April 20-22, 2025

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

— Oscar Wilde

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