Saber Akrami Hanged for Murder in Gorgan

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Gorgan Central Prison on 3 June. His identity has been established as 54-year-old Saber Akrami, a father of four from Gorgan. He was arrested around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Saber Akrami ran a neighbourhood supermarket in Gorgan and became involved in a fatal altercation with one of his neighbours. The conflict was triggered by the victim’s persistent harassment of Mr Akrami’s widowed daughter, who was living with him. Following repeated harassment, a verbal argument in the alleyway outside the residence escalated into a physical confrontation, during which Saber struck the victim on the head with a shovel. The blow left the man brain-dead and ultimately proved fatal. Throughout his trial, Saber Akrami maintained that he had no intention to kill the man, asserting that his action was a reaction to the relentless harassment.”

At the time of writing, his execution has 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 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.