10 Men Hanged in 2 Group Hangings in Ghezelhesar Prison

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, five men including an Afghan national and two Kurdish minorities were hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 26 May 2025. Two of the men who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder have been established as Farman Koushaki (middle photo), a Kurdish man from Kouhdasht, and Yashar Jafari. The third man has been identified as Akbar Ebrahimi (Amiri, left photo), a Kurdish man on death row for drug-related offences. Farman and Akbar were both on death row for six years. 

Hamshahri newspaper also reported the execution of an unnamed Afghan national for murder during a group fight, and another unnamed man for rape charges at the prison that day. The report also mentions another man hanged for murder who is probably Farman Koushaki.

IHRNGO previously reported the execution of Pedram Madani, bringing the total number of executions to six at the prison that day.

On 28 May, five other men including two Kurdish minorities were hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison. The identities of four of the men who were on death row for drug-related offences have been established as Hojat Havasizadeh (Geravand), Abbas Laki (right photo), both Kurdish minorities, Majid Bahrami (Khalifeh) and Afshin Ezati. The fifth man has been identified as Amirhossein Mohammadi who was arrested five years ago and sentenced to qisas for murder.

Of the ten executions, only three were reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 503 people were executed for drug-related charges, of which only under 3% were announced by official sources. 17% of all drug-related executions in 2024 were Baluch minorities while they represent 2-6% of Iran’s population. In the first four months of 2025, at least 169 people were hanged for drug-related offences.