Dariush Rahimi Executed in Mashhad

According to Mashregh, a man was executed in Mashhad Central Prison on 11 June. His identity has been reported as 33-year-old Dariush Rahimi who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

Official sources previously reported that Dariush Rahimi was convicted of killing a policeman while stealing a motorbike on 25 February 2022. He was sentenced to public execution at the scene of the alleged crime by Branch 5 of Khorasan Razavi’s First Tier Criminal Court. It is not clear why his execution was carried out at the prison.

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.

On 1 June, Iran Human Rights reported at least 307 executions in 2023. May was also reported as the most bloody month in ten years, with at least 142 executions.