Three Men Hanged for Murder in Gorgan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Gorgan Central Prison on 30 September 2026. He has been identified as Hossein Ali Baranzehi, a 50-year-old father of three from Agh-Ghala. He was arrested three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind for murder by the Criminal Court

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Between 2024 and 2025, Hossein Ali was transferred to the gallows at least three times, spending four to five days each time in solitary under the shadow of death. He was ultimately executed because he couldn’t afford the blood money demanded by the victim’s next of kin.”

Two other men were hanged at the prison on 11 October 2026. They have been identified as 28-year-old Manouchehr Nazari and 30-year-old Faramarz Akbarpour who were sentenced to qisas in a joint murder case.

“Manouchehr and Faramarz worked as building electricians prior to their arrest. They were accused of having, in February 2024, forced an individual named Sasan into a car over personal disputes and taken him to a poultry farm on the outskirts of the city, where, following a verbal altercation, Manouchehr killed him with a blow from a shovel. The victim's family refused to accept forgo their right to execution as retribution,” an informed source said.

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