Asma Zarei Sixth Woman Hanged in Iran in 2026

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman was hanged in Ardabil Central Prison on 20 May 2026. Her identity has been established as Asma Zarei, a 28-year-old woman from Pars Abad. She was arrested for the murder of her husband around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by the Criminal Court.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Asma was accused of killing her husband through pills. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest and her baby was born in prison. That child is now two years old. In the will she wrote before being executed, Asma asked for her mother to raise her child. She was transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells a day prior to her execution and was hanged after a last visit with her family.”

“The women's ward of Ardabil Central Prison currently holds around 80 prisoners, including at least seven other female inmates who have been sentenced to qisas on murder charges,” the source added.

At the time of writing, her execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Asma Zarei is the sixth woman execution recorded in 2026. In 2025, at least 48 women were executed, the highest number of women executions recorded in Iran in more than two decades. Iran executes the highest recorded number of women globally.

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 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.