Navid Shabanian Hanged for Murder in Kashmar

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Kashmar Prison, Khorasan Razavi province, on 15 February 2026. His identity has been established as Navid Shabanian who was arrested 16 months ago when he was 18 years and two months old. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder 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 diya 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.