Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 31, 2025: Mitra Yasini, a woman on death row for participation in murder, was executed in Shiraz Central Prison. With the previously reported executions of Hassan Safarian and Milad Mohammad Salehi, three people were executed at the prison that day.
According to HRANA News Agency, a woman was hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 27 August 2025. Her identity has been reported as Mitra Yasini, a woman sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for participation in murder.
IHRNGO previously reported the executions of Hassan Safarian and Milad Mohammad Salehi, bringing the total number of people executed at the prison to three that day.
At the time of writing, her execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Mitra Yasini is the 23rd woman execution recorded in 2025 and the 16th to be hanged for murder. 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. In the first seven months of 2025, at least 310 people were executed for murder charges in Iran.