Iran | Executions in Kermanshah, Ardabil, Qazvin, Isfahan, Rasht

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 8 May 2026: Mohammad Taghi Shahveisi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Kermanshah Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Kermanshah (Dizel Abad) Central Prison on 6 May 2026. His identity has been established as Mohammad Taghi Shahveisi, a 42-year-old Kurdish father of four from the village of Gazaneh (Salas Babakhani) who resided in Javanroud.

He was arrested after a street fight 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 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 2025 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 747 people including 48 women, were executed for murder charges, the highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Under 7% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2025, IHRNGO also recorded 566 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.

Execution in Ardabil

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 8 May 2026: Shahab Azimi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Ardabil Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Ardabil Central Prison on 6 May 2026. His identity has been established as 31-year-old Shahab Azimi from Ardabil. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Shahab was transferred to the gallows from Ward 1 of the prison. He had been arrested for an honour killing around four years ago.”

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

Executions in Qazvin

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 7 May 2026: Behnam Abdi, a man on death row for drug-related offences, and Sajad Hosseini, a man on death row for murder, were executed in Qazvin Central Prison. Sajad was executed due to his inability to pay the blood money sum demanded by the plaintiffs in the case.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Qazvin (Choobindar) Central Prison on 6 May 2026. His identity has been established as Behnam Abdi, a 49-year-old father of two from Qazvin. He was arrested around three years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Another man was hanged at the prison on 27 April. He has been identified as Sajad Hosseini, a 27-year-old man from Tehran. He was arrested around six years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Sajad was arrested for the murder after a street fight. He was previously transferred to the gallows twice, once three years ago and again last June. On both occasions, he was returned to his ward after the victim's family granted extensions. They had demanded 9 billion tomans as diya (blood money). Through immense effort, Sajad's family managed to raise 5.4 billion tomans, but the plaintiffs refused to accept this amount."

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

Executions in Isfahan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 6 May 2026: Massoud Shirzad and Ghasem Nouri Roudini, a Baluch minority, were executed for drug-related offences in Isfahan Central Prison. Mehrdad Goudarzi was spared from death at the last minute after obtaining a one-month extension in his murder case.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 4 May 2026. Their identities have been established as 30-year-old Massoud Shirzad from Kashan and Ghasem Nouri Roudini, a 32-year-old Baluch man from the village of Roudini in Zahedan. Massoud was arrested around three years ago and Ghasem was arrested seven years ago. They were sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: "Ghasem successfully memorised the entire Quran during his imprisonment. Given standard judicial procedures and prior interventions, his death sentence was expected to be overturned. Although his sentence had previously been quashed by the Supreme Court, his execution was still carried out at dawn on Monday."

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

Another death row prisoner named Mehrdad Goudarzi was also transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells along with Massoud and Ghasem. He was returned to the general ward after obtaining a last minute one-month extension from the plaintiffs in his murder case.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2025 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 795 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only 0.18% were announced by official sources. 13% of all drug-related executions in 2025 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population.

Execution in Rasht

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 4 May 2026: Jamal Hassanzadeh, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Rasht Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 29 April 2026. His identity has been established as Jamal Hassanzadeh, a 37-year-old father of one.

Informed sources told IHRNGO that he been arrested four years ago on murder charges following an unintentional altercation 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, May 4-8, 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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