Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 26, 2025: Mehdi Fathipour and Amin Chaharbashi, two men on death row for separate murders, were executed in Gorgan Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Gorgan Central Prison on 25 November 2025. Their identities have been established as 24-year-old Mehdi Fathpour and Amin Chaharbashi. They were both sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Mehdi Fathipour was 19 years old at the time of arrest around five years ago. Mehdi and the victim were childhood friends and neighbours. The victim had been in a relationship with Mehdi’s sister and they were planning to announce it to their families. When Mehdi found out, he stabbed his friend in an altercation that led to his death.”
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 ten months of 2025, at least 568 people were executed for murder charges in Iran.