4 Men Executed in Same Murder Case in Isfahan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were executed in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 12 May. Their identities have been established as Jafar Hosseinzadeh, Massoud Estaki, Mostafa Aghamohammadi and Majid Rezaei who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for a murder in the same case.

Another prisoner named Mahmoud Atayi Nakou-Abadi was transferred to solitary confinement with the four men but was returned to his cell after managing to obtain a last minute extension in his case.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “The five men were arrested for the murder of Massoud Astaki’s cousin around 12 years ago and sentenced to qisas.”

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

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.