Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 5, 2025: Hassan Ramezani, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Khorramabad Central Prison. Saber Azizpour was previously reported to have been executed at the prison that day.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Khorramabad Central Prison on 3 August 2025. His identity has been established as 28-year-old Hassan Ramezani from Khorramabad.
He was arrested for a murder during a street fight four years ago and sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.
IHRNGO previously reported the execution of Saeed Azizpour, bringing the number of executions at the prison to two that day.
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.
