Unidentified Man Executed in Khaf

According IRGC-affliated Fars news agency and quoting the Khaf public prosecutor, a man was executed on 15 August at an unspecified prison. The unnamed man was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder after being arrested around three years ago.

It is believed that the man was executed in Mashhad Central Prison or another Khorasan Razavi prison.

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 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.

In 2023, at least 282 people including two juvenile offenders and 15 women, were executed for murder charges, the second highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 20% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2023, Iran Human Rights also recorded 857 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.