Iran | Executions in Gorgan, Doroud, Khorramabad, Qom, Semnan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 15, 2025: Mohammad Rahimi, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Gorgan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Gorgan Central Prison on 14 December 2025. His identity has been established as 50-year-old Mohammad Rahimi. He was arrested two years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases 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 697 people were executed for drug-related offences in the first eleven months of 2025.

Execution in Doroud

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 14, 2025: Salim Afrashteh, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Doroud Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Doroud Prison on 9 December 2025. His identity has been established as 33-year-old Salim Afrashteh. He was arrested around four years 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.

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. At least 641 people were executed for murder charges in the first eleven months of 2025.

Executions in Khorramabad

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 14, 2025: Hossein Ali Koulivand and Morad Jafari, two men on death row for separate murders, were executed in Khorramabad Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Khorramabad Central Prison on 13 December 2025. Their identities have been established as Hossein Ali Koulivand, a 51-year-old father of three, and Morad Jafari from Aligudarz. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Hossein Ali was arrested around seven years ago. He had borrowed money in exchange for a promissory note. When he was unable to repay the loan, an argument and altercation ensued which ended with the other person being killed.”

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

Executions in Karaj

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 14, 2025: Ali Itivand and Kiumars Bahrami, two Kurdish relatives on death row for drug-related offences, were executed in Karaj Penitentiary.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Karaj Central Prison (Penitentiary) at 10 pm on 13 December 2025. Their identities have been established as 35-year-old Ali Itivand, a Kurdish minority from the village of Sorkheh Mehr in Kouhdasht, and his relative, Kiumars Bahrami, a 29-year-old Kurdish minority from Kouhdasht.

Ali was arrested three years ago and Kiumars, two years ago. They were sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases by the Revolutionary Court.

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

Executions in Qom

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 14, 2025: Hamideh Jabari and Manouchehr Rezayi, a woman and man on death row for separate murders, were executed in Qom Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman and man were hanged in Qom Central Prison on 13 December 2025. Their identities have been established as 41-year-old Hamideh Jabari from Saveh and 26-year-old Manouchehr Rezayi from Shahriar, Tehran.

Hamideh was arrested for the murder of her husband four years ago and Manouchehr Rezayi who was arrested for murder during a street fight four years ago. 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.

Executions in Semnan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 14, 2025: Reza Abbasian and Khalil Fadayi, two men on death row for separate murders, were executed in Semnan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Semnan Central Prison on 10 December 2025. Their identities have been established as 46-year-old Reza Abbasian from Semnan and 28-year-old Khalil Fadayi from Shahroud.

Reza was arrested three years ago and Khalil, five years ago. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. Per informed IHRNGO sources, Khalil had attempted to commit suicide twice in prison.

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

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, December 14-15, 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

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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

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.

Saudi Arabia executes woman, 'terrorists', 'indecent' couple, and juvenile offenders

Saudi Arabia carried out a series of executions in mid-October, including that of a woman convicted of killing her mother and attempting to kill her sister, alongside five men in the Eastern Province. Official statements described the five as terrorists; human rights groups described them as political prisoners sentenced under discretionary (ta’zir) penalties, one of whom was a child at the time of the alleged acts. The cases illustrate the kingdom’s continued use of the death penalty under Sharia, its stated commitment to public order and justice, and criticism from human rights organizations over the scope of capital punishment.

Medical experts shocked by Tennessee team’s ‘malpractice’ in Christa Pike’s failed execution

New details of IV team’s attempts to find a vein shared by Pike’s lawyer ‘shocked and disturbed’ practitioners Medical experts have expressed shock at the apparent incompetence shown by Tennessee’s execution team during the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike , the prisoner who survived a normally fatal dose of pentobarbital, which they say would be considered medical malpractice in any other setting.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog