Mohammad Aref Azizi Hanged in Mashhad

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Mashhad (Vakil Abad) Prison on 20th January 2025. His identity has been established as 41-year-old Mohammad Aref Azizi from the village of Anbaran in Mashhad. He was arrested for a murder six years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.

Another man named Gholamreza Seyed Mohammadkhani was reported to have been executed at the prison that day, bringing the total number to two.

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 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.