Iran | Executions in Kermanshah, Yasuj, Yazd, Hamedan, Sari, Esfarayen

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 29, 2025: Peyman Rostami and Sasan Lorestani, two Kurdish men on death row for murder, were executed in Kermanshah Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Kermanshah (Dizel Abad) Central Prison on 22 October 2025. Their identities have been established as Peyman Rostami and Sasan (Ehsan) Lorestani, two Kurdish men from Kermanshah. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

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 nine months of 2025, at least 457 people were executed for murder charges in Iran.

Execution in Yasuj

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 29, 2025: Fereydoun Lotfi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Yasuj Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Yasuj Central Prison on 27 October 2025. His identity has been established as Fereydoun Lotfi, a 51-year-old father of four from Yasuj. He was arrested for allegedly killing another individual with a hunting rifle over farmland dispute and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

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); October 29, 2025: Saeed Arabian, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Yazd Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Yazd Central Prison on 27 October 2025. His identity has been established as Saeed Arabian, a 30-year-old man who owned a kiosk prior to his arrest around three years ago. He was sentenced to death on drug-related related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

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 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. At least 517 people were executed for drug-related offences in the first nine months of 2025.

Executions in Hamedan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 29, 2025: Mehdi Moradi and Alireza Alimoradi, two relatives and co-defendants on death row for an honour killing, were executed in Hamedan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Hamedan Central Prison on 26 October 2025. Their identities have been established as 42-year-old Mehdi Moradi and 25-year-old Alireza Alimoradi, both Kabudarahang natives. Mehdi Moradi was Alireza’s father-in-law and they were arrested for an honour killing around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

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

Execution in Sari

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 29, 2025: Ashkan Partouyan and Karim Nazemi, two men on death row for separate murders, were executed in Sari Central Prison. Karim’s execution took place because of his inability to pay the 9 billion tomans (approximately 72,000 euros).

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Sari Central Prison on 28 October 2025. Their identities have been established as 33-year-old Ashkan Partouyan from Ghaemshahr and Karim Nazemi, a 45-year-old father of one from Sari.

Ashkan was arrested around five years ago and Karim, around seven years ago. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Karim was previously transferred to the gallows twice, but had managed to obtain last minute extensions each time. The victim’s family had asked for 9 billion tomans (approximately 72,000 euros) as blood money which Karim and his family couldn’t afford.”

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

Execution in Esfarayen

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 29, 2025: Ali Saedpanah, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Esfarayen Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Esfarayen Prison, North Khorasan province, on 26 October 2025. His identity has been established as 21-year-old Ali Saedpanah from Esfarayen.

He was arrested for allegedly killing another individual during a street fight 20 months ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

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

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, October 29, 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

Comments

Indiana governor rejects brain scans for death row inmate ahead of execution

Gov. Mike Braun is still weighing Jeffrey Weisheit’s clemency request, however. Gov. Mike Braun’s administration will not allow death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit to undergo additional brain scans before his scheduled execution next week. The decision follows weeks of legal efforts by his attorneys to obtain additional medical evidence for his clemency case. Braun’s general counsel, Stephanie Flittner, met with Weisheit’s legal team Wednesday to discuss the testing and his pending clemency request.

Texas | Jury recommends death penalty for man convicted of killing San Benito police lieutenant

A Cameron County jury recommended the death penalty for Rogelio Martinez for killing a San Benito police lieutenant during a police chase in Brownsville. Martinez stared forward as the judge announced the recommendation. Lt. Milton Resendez's family told Martinez in court that their lives will never be the same. Resendez's wife and siblings walked past cameras and declined to speak with reporters. Inside the courtroom, where no audio or video recording was allowed, Resendez's sister Jackie raised her voice at Martinez during impact statements.

Alabama | Brian Martin sentenced to death in killing of Sheffield Sgt. Nick Risner

Brian Lansing Martin was sentenced to death Monday for killing Sheffield Police Sgt. Nick Risner, whose death prompted Alabama lawmakers to restrict early-release credits for inmates convicted of killing someone with a deadly weapon. A Colbert County judge formally imposed the sentence Oct. 26, following a jury’s unanimous recommendation in September, WAFF reported. “Today’s sentence represents justice and accountability for the murder of Sergeant Nick Risner,” Colbert County District Attorney Hal Hughston said in a statement quoted by the station.

Florida | Bunnell man sentenced to death for fatally stabbing wife outside their home in 2024

A Flagler County judge sentenced Jermaine Mandell Williams Sr. to death Monday for stabbing his wife outside their Bunnell home in 2024. Williams, 34, was convicted of 1st-degree murder in July. Jurors deliberated about 20 minutes before finding him guilty and later voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty. The attack happened Aug. 2, 2024. Surveillance video and testimony showed Williams went inside the home, returned with an 8-inch chef’s knife and attacked his wife, Yolonda Charmaine Williams, in the street, according to court and prosecution accounts. She was stabbed 19 to 20 times and later died at a hospital.

Indiana's governor turns down clemency request, says execution planned for Thursday will go forward

Indiana’s governor turned down a clemency request and says an execution planned for Thursday will go forward against a man who killed his girlfriend’s two children in 2010 Indiana's governor turned down a clemency request Monday and said an execution planned for this week would go forward for a man who set a fire that killed his girlfriend's two children in 2010. Gov. Mike Braun said he would follow the Indiana Parole Board's recommendation to let the death sentence stand for Jeffrey Weisheit. “The Indiana Department of Correction will continue preparations to carry out the court-ordered sentence of execution” Thursday, said Braun, a Republican.

‘I’m Not Incompetent’ Christa Pike’s execution doctor, Mark Fowler, speaks.

Dr. Mark Fowler knew something was wrong after 45 minutes passed without word from the warden. In most cases, executions take no more than ten minutes. When he was summoned from his waiting room to the chamber next door, he saw 50-year-old Christa Pike, who’d received two lethal doses of pentobarbital that night, strapped to a gurney, gasping for air. “She’s not dead,” Fowler recalls the warden saying. “I thought, Well, in human beings there’s a spectrum of responses to medications and we’ll give it a few more minutes,” he says. Another half-hour passed. Fowler worried she might survive with irreversible brain damage. “She’s going to be in a permanent vegetative state with a quarter-million dollars in medical expenses.” He came back in and diagnosed her as comatose. The deputy commissioner ordered the execution to stop. Now, instead of taking part in Pike’s death, Fowler’s job was to bring her back to life.

François Mitterrand, the Justice Minister Who Sent 45 Men to the Guillotine

The socialist president celebrated for abolishing the death penalty in France sent 45 condemned men to the guillotine when he was Minister of Justice. In French political history, François Mitterrand is the father of the historic victory of May 1981. He remains associated with one of the greatest moral laws of the Fifth Republic: the definitive end of capital executions, carried through with Robert Badinter in the autumn of 1981.

US woman who survived botched execution says she's in constant pain

Convicted murderer Christa Pike said Friday that she is in constant pain, a month after surviving a botched execution attempt in the US state of Tennessee. "There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain," Pike said in a statement released by her lawyers. "My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts," she said. "I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn't just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul."

Indiana Parole Board hears testimony on clemency for man scheduled for Nov. 5 execution

Jeffrey Weisheit set his house on fire in 2010, killing his girlfriend’s two young children he was watching. The Indiana Parole Board will now make a recommendation in the coming days to Governor Mike Braun on whether to grant clemency to condemned killer Jeffrey Weisheit. Jeffrey is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 5 for the 2010 murder of his girlfriend's 2 children in Vanderburgh County.

USA | 3 states to carry out rare triple execution this week

If all three executions are carried out as planned, it will be the second triple execution in the U.S. this year, reflecting an overall uptick in the death penalty since the beginning of 2025. Three states are planning to carry out a rare triple execution this week on Nov. 5. Indiana is set to execute Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, by lethal injection for the 2010 murders of his girlfriend's two children, 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her 5-year-old brother, Caleb. The children were burned alive in their home.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog