Mahtab Shirmohammadi and Sirus Sayadi Hanged for Murder in Yasuj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least two people were hanged in Yasuj Central Prison on 2 August 2026. Their identities have been established as Mahtab Shirmohammadi, a 32-yea-old mother of one from Tabriz, and Sirus Sayadi, a 40-year-old father of one from Yasuj.

Mahtab was arrested three years ago and Sirus was arrested five years ago. They were both sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: "Mahtab lived with her husband in Tabriz. Having discovered that he was having an affair with another woman in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, she had gathered evidence to prove it. About three years ago, while staying at her mother-in-law's home in Yasuj, a fierce argument broke out between the couple over the affair. Mahtab was accused of stabbing her husband to death."

“Sirus was accused of killing an individual with a hunting rifle during a clash between two families. A second person who was also injured during the clash later made a full recovery,” the source added.

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

Mahtab Shirmohammadi is the thirteenth woman execution recorded in 2026 and the second woman to be hanged at Yasuj Central Prison in just over two weeks. In 2025, at least 48 women were executed, the highest number of women executions recorded in Iran in more than two decades. Iran executes the highest recorded number of women globally.

In January 2025, IHRNGO published a report titled “Women and the Death Penalty in Iran; a Gendered Perspective,” which sheds light on the contemporary experiences of women facing the death penalty, focusing on the discriminatory laws and societal factors that perpetuate their suffering. 

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.

Crucially, while an indicative diya amount is set by the Judiciary every year, there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money. Should the victim’s family choose execution, they are not only encouraged to attend, but also to physically carry out the execution themselves.

According to IHRNGO’s 2025 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 747 people including 48 women, were executed for murder charges, the highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Under 7% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2025, IHRNGO also recorded 566 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions