Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 23, 2025: Milad Jameh Shourani and Hadi Norouzi, two Kurdish men on death row for separate murders, were executed in Kermanshah Central Prison. With the previously reported execution of Saeed Ghobadi, three people were hanged at the prison that day.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Kermanshah (Vakil Abad) Central Prison on 21 September 2025. Their identities have been established as 27-year-old Kazem (Milad) Jameh Shourani (photo) and 28-year-old Hadi Norouzi, two Kurdish men from Kermanshah.
Kazem was arrested for the murder of his maternal male cousin around seventeen months ago and Hadi was arrested five years ag. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders by the Criminal Court.
Another Kurdish man named Saeed Ghobadi was previously reported to have been executed at the prison that day, bringing the total number of executions to three at the prison that day.
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.