Hassan Kordi and Mohammadali Pazireh Hanged for Murder in Shiraz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least two men were hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 16 August 2026. Their identities have been established as Hassan Kordi (right photo), a farmer from Kamfirouz and 28-year-old Mohammadali Pazireh (left photo).

Hassan was accused of killing another individual during a farming dispute over four years ago and Mohammadali was arrested eight years ago. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Two other men who were also transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells with Hassan and Mohammadali were returned to their cells after obtaining two-month extensions in their cases.

At the time of writing, Hassan and Mohammadali’s 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 mitigating factors 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.