Group Hanging of 9 Men and a Woman in Yazd

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, nine men and a woman were hanged in Yazd Central Prison on 21 July 2025. Of the ten defendants, five were on death row for drug-related offences and five were on death row for murder.

Three of the drug defendants have been identified as 31-year-old Reza Akhiri from Minab, 40-year-old Ali Momeni from Boroujerd and 46-year-old Bahram Seyed Nasiri (middle photo) from Bandar Abbas. The other two men who were also from Bandar Abbas, have not been identified at the time of writing.

Reza and Ali were arrested three years ago and Bahram, four years ago. They were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases.

Three of the murder defendants have been identified as Atefeh Amini, a 35-year-old woman from Yazd, 35-year-old Amirhossein Hassan Khani (left photo) from Rasht and Fakhreddin Raei (right photo), a 44-year-old Tabriz native who lived in Meybod. The other two men have not been identified at the time of writing. They were transferred from Ardakan Prison in Yazd province to the prison for execution.

Atefeh was arrested for the murder of her husband five years ago. Amirhossein was arrested four years ago and Fakhrodin, five years ago. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Atefeh Amini is the 18th woman execution recorded in 2025. Iran executes the highest number of women globally. In 2024, at least 31 women were executed for drug-related, murder and security-related charges in Iran, the highest number of recorded women executions in more than 15 years.

In January 2025, IHRNGO published a report titled “Women and the Death Penalty in Iran; a Gendered Perspective,” which sheds light on the contemporary experiences of women facing the death penalty, focusing on the discriminatory laws and societal factors that perpetuate their suffering.

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. 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 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.