Two Unidentified Men Hanged for Murder in Ghezelhesar Prison

According to Jame Jam Online, at least two men were hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 14 October 2026. Only identified as “Mehrshad” and “Farid,” they were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

Per the report, Mehrshad mistakenly shot and killed a young university student at a petrol station in the Jannat Abad neighbourhood of Tehran in September 2023 during a financial dispute involving his father's debts. The other executed prisoner, Farid, was accused of setting his friend on fire with motorcycle petrol and killing him during an altercation in Chitgar Park, Tehran in October 2024 after consuming narcotics and alcohol.

IHRNGO previously reported the execution of Ahmaz Parviz, bringing the total number of executions to three at the prison that day.

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.