Kurdish Hossein Soltanian Executed in Zahedan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a Kurdish man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on 27 May. His identity has been established as 39-year-old Hossen Soltanian. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

According to Hengaw which first reported news of his execution, Hossein was arrested ten years ago.

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

According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.

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.