Iran | Group Hanging of 5; One Forgiven Defendant Executed Due to Brother’s Political Affiliation

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 January 2026: Cousins Saeed and Ali Partouy, Arash Shams, Naser Mirzayi and Sohrab Imani, five men on death row for murder, were executed in Shiraz Central Prison. Naser Mirzayi was executed on the request of the prosecutor after being forgiven by the victim’s family “because his brother is a member of People’s Mojahedin Organisation.”

According to information obtained by IHRNGO, five men were hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 31 December 2025. All five men were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. Two of the men were cousins Ali Partouy, and 24-year-old Saeed Partouy who worked as car mechanics in the same repair shop. They were arrested for the murder of a policeman in Shiraz around two years ago.

The other three men have been identified as 32-year-old Naser Mirzayi from Shiraz, 28-year-old Arash Shamsi from Fasa and Sohrab Imani from Shiraz.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Naser was arrested around two years ago. Ten days prior to his execution, the victim’s family signed a written consent that they were forgiving Naser without any diya (blood money) due to the fact that he hadn’t intentionally committed the killing. However, the Shiraz Prosecutor’s Office insisted on carrying out the execution because Naser’s brother was a member of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation (PMOI/MEK), and he was executed.”

Arash was arrested for the honour killing of his friend three years ago. It is not clear whether Sohrab Imani was executed for murder or other charges.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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 or forgiveness.

Crucially, while an indicative diya 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.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, January 19, 2026

"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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