Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 24 July 2026: Ayoub Mohebbi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Ghezelhesar Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 12 July 2026. His identity has been established as 40-year-old Ayoub Mohebbi. He was arrested four years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Ayoub was single and had unintentionally caused the death during a street fight, and had no intention of killing the victim. In the end, he was unable to convince the victim’s family to forgo their right to execution.”
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.