At Least 3 Baluch Men Hanged in Zahedan

According to Haal Vsh, three Baluch men were hanged in Zahedan Central Prison on 13 April 2025. Their identities have been reported as 40-year-old Allahnazar Gorgij from Zahak, 28-year-old Abdolsalam Baluch Moshkonti (Ahourani) from Ahouran and Fereydoun Mohammadi from Chabahar. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

An informed source is quoted as saying: “Allahnazar was arrested in Zahak seven years ago. Abdolsalam was arrested for allegedly murdering a Sepah bank security with his friend in Chabahar on 25 August 2022.”

At the time of writing, their executions have 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.

According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 419 people including a juvenile offender and 19 women, were executed for murder charges, the highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 12% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2024, Iran Human Rights also recorded 649 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.