Mehdi Aghoush Executed for Murder in Zanjan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Zanjan Central Prison on September 11. His identity has been established as 30-year-old Mehdi Aghoush. He was sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Mehdi Aghoush was a hairdresser. He was arrested on charges of murder during a mass fight four years ago and had been in prison since. He had gone to gallows twice before but had managed to obtain extensions from the victim’s family.”

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

According to data gathered by Iran Human Rights, at least 183 people were executed on murder charges in 2021. 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.

At least 251 including 6 women and 67 Baluch minorities were executed in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.