Iran | Cousins Hanged for Murder in Gorgan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 7, 2025: Ehsan Saeedi and Manouchehr Saeedi, two cousins and co-defendants on death row for an honour killing, were executed Gorgan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Gorgan Central Prison on 6 August 2025. Their identities have been established as 26-year-old Ehsan Saeedi and 28-year-old Manouchehr Saeedi who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Ehsan and Manouchehr were (paternal) cousins. They were arrested two years and four months ago for the honour killing of their friend with poisoned pastry and sentenced to qisas.”

At the time of writing, their executions have 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. Should the victim’s family choose execution, they are not only encouraged to attend, but also to physically carry out the execution themselves.

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.

In the first seven months of 2025, at least 310 people were executed for murder charges in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, August 7, 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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