Iran | Youth Hanged for Murder Based on Qassameh Ceremony

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 June 2026: Pejman Saedi, a Kurdish man convicted of murder based on a qassameh ceremony after being exonerated, was executed in Qorveh Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Qorveh Prison on 12 January 2026. His identity has been established as Pejman Soltani, a 21-year-old Kurdish man from Dehgolan. He was arrested around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Pejman Soltani had initially been acquitted by the court of first instance and granted a 200-million-toman bail, but he remained in custody because he was unable to raise the required security. The plaintiffs then altered the course of the case by bringing forward individuals to perform the qasameh (sworn oath) ritual, which ultimately led to a sentence of qisas (retribution-in-kind). He maintained his innocence, denying the murder until the very moment of his execution.”

Qassameh is based on swearing an oath on the Quran by a certain number of the victim’s family. In murder cases, 50 male members of the victim’s family are required to make a qassameh. It is important to note that those who swear an oath in qassameh ceremonies are not required to be, and are not usually, direct witnesses to alleged offence.

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. In March 2026, the indicative diya was set at 2.1 billion tomans (approx. €10,700) for a Muslim man and 1.05 billion tomans (€5,350) for a Muslim woman, a 75% increase compared to the previous year. 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.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, June 20, 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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