Vahid Ebrahimi and Mousa Alizadeh Hanged in Isfahan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 21 September. Their identities have been established as 33-year-old Vahid Ebrahimi (photo) from Veldan region in Isfahan and 28-year-old Mousa Alizadeh from Tabriz.

Vahid was arrested seven years ago and Mousa, five years ago. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Vahid didn’t allow anyone to put the noose around his neck, he put it around his own neck himself. Mousa was convicted of a murder committed during a street fight.”

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. 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 eight months of 2025, at least 375 people were executed for murder charges in Iran.