Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 13 July 2026: Elias Azarpira, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Rasht Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 7 July 2026. His identity has been established as Elias Azarpira, a 48-year-old father of two from Bandar Anzali. He was arrested four years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Elias Azarpira was a father of two children, aged 11 and 17. Four years ago, a man attacked and injured Elias’s son, who was working as a motorcycle courier. After his son explained what had happened, Elias tracked the man down and got into a fight with him. In court, Elias testified that because of outstanding debts and severe financial pressure, he was extremely angry at the time, lost control and slammed the victim’s head against the wall several times. He consistently maintained that the killing was completely unintentional and that he had no motive to take a human life.”
At the time of writing, his execution has 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 circumstances 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.