Three Arab Men Hanged for Murder in Ahvaz

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Ahvaz Sepidar Prison on 16 September 2026. His identity has been established as Hossein Ghazalavi (left photo), an Ahvazi Arab man who was arrested around eleven years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. According to informed IHRNGO sources, Hossein had maintained his innocence throughout the years.

Hossein was transferred to the gallows from Ward 3 of the prison and hanged with Nemat Maghami whose execution IHRNGO previously reported.

Two other men were hanged at the prison on 22 September. They have been identified as Abdoljalil Bazrkaran (right photo), a 46-year-old Arab man from Ahvaz and Karim Mojadam, an Arab father of four who was around 40 years old.

Abdoljalil was arrested six years ago and Karim was arrested around four years ago. They were also sentenced to qisas for separate murders.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Abdoljalil was from the Seyadat tribe and had a shop in the Hasirabad district of Ahvaz. On the day of the incident, four men waited for him for nearly an hour before he arrived. Once he entered the shop, they attacked him and a struggle broke out. One of the assailants was wielding a knife, and during the scuffle, Abdoljalil fell on top of the attacker, causing the man's own knife to pierce his chest. Abdoljalil killed no one, as the assailant died from his own weapon, yet the court rejected his self-defence arguments and sentenced him to qisas.”

Abdoljalil and Karim were taken from Ward 2 of the prison to the gallows for execution.

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 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.