Iran | Executions in Semnan, Isfahan, Yazd, Rasht

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 3, 2025: Mahmoud Nouri, Hossein Shafizadeh and Gholamreza Bahrami, three men on death row for murder charges, were executed in Semnan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were hanged in Semnan Central Prison on 2 December 2025. Their identities have been established as Mahmoud Nouri, a 40-year-old man from Semnan, 40-year-old Hossein Shafizadeh and Gholamreza Bahrami.

Mahmoud was arrested around seven years ago, Hossein, around three years ago and Bahram, less than two years ago. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders.

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 ten months of 2025, at least 568 people were executed for murder charges in Iran.

Executions in Isfahan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 3, 2025: At least seven men including two Kurdish-Iraqi nationals and a Baluch minority were executed in Isfahan Central Prison. Abdollah Barahouyi, Mehrdad Aspid, Shomal Mohammad Rashid, Ardalan Hossein Ali, Shahab Mokhtari, Abolfazl Ghaderzadeh and Meisam Panahi were all on death row for drug-related offences.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 1 December 2025. Their identities have been established as Abdollah Barahouyi, a Baluch minority from Zahedan, and Mehrdad Aspid from Bandar Abbas. They were arrested in a joint case around six years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

The next day, on 2 December, a group hanging of five men was carried out at the prison. Two of the men have been identified as Shomal Mohammad Rashid and Ardalan Hossein Ali, two Kurdish-Iraqi relatives from Mosul who had been living in Iran for 25 years. Three years ago, while they were living in Isfahan, they were arrested for carrying 18 kilograms of narcotics and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court.

The other three men have been identified as Shahab Mokhtari, 29-year-old Abolfazl Ghaderzadeh and Meisam Panahi, a 37-year-old father of one. Shahab was arrested around four years ago, Abolfazl, three years ago and Meisam, less than two years ago. They were also all on death row for drug-related offences.

At the time of writing, their executions have 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 612 people were executed for drug-related offences in the first ten months of 2025.

Executions in Yazd

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 3, 2025: Ali Neirang, Jalal Khorshidi and Mahmoud Abdollahi, three men on death row for drug-related offences, were executed in Yazd Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were hanged in Yazd Central Prison on 2 December 2025. Their identities have been established as Ali Neisrang, Jalal Khordshidi from Yazd and Mahmoud Abdollahi. Ali was arrested around four years ago, Jalal, six years ago and Mahmoud, three years ago. They were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases.

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

Execution in Bam

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 3, 2025: Keyvan Shehbakhsh, a Baluch man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Bam Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Bam Prison on 3 December 2025. His identity has been established as Keyvan Shehbakhsh, a 29-year-old Baluch man from the village of Doumag in Zahedan.

He was arrested around 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.

Executions in Rasht

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 3, 2025: Amir Nazari, Hamed Hanifeh, Ali Sayeh Afkan and Mehrdad Pourhossein were executed for drug-related offences in Rasht Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 25 October 2025. His identity has been established as Amir Nazari who was sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

The next day, on 26 October, a man identified as Hamed Hanifeh was hanged for drug-related offences at the prison.

Furthermore, on 26 November, two men were hanged at the prison. Their identities have been established as Ali Sayeh Afkan and Mehrdad Pourhossein. They were also on death row for drug-related offences.

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

10th Public Hanging in Iran in 2025

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 2, 2025: State media reported the public hanging of an unnamed man for the murder of his wife in Semnan.

According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency, a man was publicly hanged in Semnan on 2 December 2025. The unnamed man is reported to have been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of his wife around five years ago.

The unidentified man is the tenth person to be publicly hanged in Iran in 2025.

Iran is one of the few countries in the world to carry out executions in public spaces. 2021 was the only year in more than a decade that the Islamic Republic did not carry out any public executions, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic that year.

Public executions resumed in 2022 with two people being hanged, and in 2023 the number of public executions rose again to seven. In 2024, four people were executed in public in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, December 2-3, 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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