5 Men at Risk of Execution in Isfahan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, five men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in Isfahan Central Prison. Their identities have been established as Mahmoud Atayi-Nakuabadi, Massoud Astaki, Jafar Hosseinzadeh, Majid Rezaei and Mostafa Agha Mohammadi. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

Their executions are due to be carried out in the next hours if they cannot obtain extensions in their cases.

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.

In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.