Salah Foroughi Hanged for Murder in Bukan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Bukan Prison on 17 May 2026. His identity has been established as Salah Foroughi. He was sentenced to qisas(retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Mehr News Agency also reported his execution. He was accused of killing three members of the same family.

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.

According to IHRNGO’s 2025 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 747 people including 48 women, were executed for murder charges, the highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Under 7% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2025, IHRNGO also recorded 566 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.

Correction, 26 May 2026:

The identity of this prisoner was initially incorrectly reported by Iran Human Rights as Mohammad Rauf Majidi, and this error is hereby corrected. The organisation apologises for this mistake and any harm and confusion caused, and reiterates its commitment to data accuracy and correcting the record. Mohammad Raouf Majidi is a separate defendant who remains wanted for the intentional murder of three individuals.