Unidentified Man Hanged for Murder in Ghezelhesar Prison

According Javan Online, a man was hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 7 October 2026. The unnamed man was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. He was accused of committing murder on 26 December 2023 in the A’emeh Athar neighbourhood of southern Tehran. Following his arrest, the defendant claimed during interrogation that the victim had been harassing the girl he liked, leading to a physical altercation and ultimately the victim's death.

The report also noted that alongside this prisoner's execution, four other individuals sentenced to qisas had also been transferred to the gallows. However, whilst standing at the gallows, the four condemned men succeeded in securing extensions from the victims' next of kin and were temporarily returned to their cells.

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. In the first nine months of 2026, at least 306 people were executed for murder charges.