Iran: Prisoner Executed in Zanjan

According to Iran Human Rights, the man was executed in Zanjan Central Prison on the morning of June 30, 2020. Yousef Rahmani, a 40-year-old Qazvin resident, has been identified as the prisoner who was sentenced to “retribution” (qisas) for premeditated murder.

An informed source told IHR: "Yousef Rahmani's sentence was supposed to be carried out before Ramadan, and then they said that it would be carried out after Ramadan. Yousef was arrested in 2017 on charges of murdering his friend and sentenced to retribution. The dispute between Yousef and his friend was over 9 million Tomans of money."

At the time of publishing this article, Yousef’s execution has not been announced by either government officials or media outlets inside Iran.

According to Iran Human Rights’ annual report, at least 225 of the 280 of those executed in 2019 were charged with "premeditated murder."

As there are no legal distinctions made between murder and manslaughter, whether voluntary or involuntary in Iran, those charged under the umbrella term of “premeditated murder” will receive the death penalty regardless of intent (mens rea) and the circumstances.