Baluch Nourollah Teimouri Executed in Zahedan

According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man were executed in Zahedan Central Prison on 27 May. His identity has been reported as 32-year-old Nourollah Teimouri who was sentenced to qisas for murder. He was arrested around five years ago.

Kurdish Hossein Soltanian was also executed at the prison that day.

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

Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.

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.