4 Men Including Afghan Executed in Khorramabad

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on 18 May. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder

The identities of three of the men have been established as Ali Khoramshah Amrayi, Najaf Soleiman Reshad (Afghan) and Firouz Yarinejad (Geravand). The fourth man’s identity has not been established at the time of writing.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Ali Khoramshah was behind bars for around four years. Najaf Soleiman who was Afghan had also been on death row for four years.”

At the time of writing, their executions have 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.

Afghans constitute the largest group of non-Iranian execution and death row cases in Iranian prisons. In 2021, no execution of Afghan nationals was recorded until September, when five men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, Iran Human Rights expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals. That number more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals including a juvenile offender and a woman executed. At least five Afghans have been executed in 2023.