Reza Afrayi Mardakheh Hanged for Murder in Rasht

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 30 July 2025. His identity has been established as Reza Afrayi Mardakheh, a 40-year-old father of two and farmer from Anzali who lived in Rasht.

He was arrested for an honour killing four years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.

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. 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.

In the first six months of 2025, at least 268 people were executed for murder charges in Iran.