Heidar Ali Kord and Ali Pirzadeh Hanged After 14 Years on Death Row

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Ahvaz Sepidar Prison on 18 October 2026. Their identities have been established as 53-year-old Heidar Ali Kord (right photo) and 46-year-old Ali Pirzadeh (left photo), two Bakhtiari men from Qaleh Tol who were both married and had children. They were arrested in a joint case and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Heidar Ali and Ali, both members of the Bakhtiari community from the city of Qaleh Tol, were married and had children. Approximately 14 years ago, a dispute over agricultural land escalated into an altercation with members of the Zarrinkolah family, during which two individuals from the opposing clan were killed. Following the incident, elders from both clans proposed that two members of the Kord clan assume responsibility for the deaths to resolve the dispute. Heidar Ali and Ali were misled into accepting the blame; however, contrary to the assurances given, their death sentences were ultimately carried out after 14 years of imprisonment.”

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 mitigating factors 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. In the first ten months of 2026, at least 353 people were executed for murder charges.