Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 20 May 2026: State media reported that Bahman Farzaneh, a taxi driver sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the controversial murder of Elaheh Hosseinnejad, has been executed.
According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency, the man convicted of the murder of Elaheh Hosseinnejad, was executed at an undisclosed location on 20 May 2026. IHRNGO has established his identity as Bahman Farzaneh, 31, and the place of his execution as Ghezelhesar Prison. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) by Branch One of the Tehran Criminal Court.
On 25 May 2025, Elaheh Hosseinnejad, a 24-year-old nail technician, was reported missing by her family. She was travelling home from work in a taxi when she last spoke to her family. Her body was discovered in the outskirts of the city on 4 June. State media reported the arrests of Bahman Farzaneh and another defendant the next day, on 5 June. It was later reported that the second defendant was the car owner and he was cleared of any involvement in the murder. The forced confessions of Bahman were broadcast several times by state media.
The circumstances surrounding Elaheh’s disappearance and subsequent murder generated widespread national outrage, capturing the attention of the media and reigniting urgent public debates regarding the safety of women in Iran.
According to official reports, the motive for the murder was the theft of her mobile phone. When she resisted, he stabbed her, later testifying in court that he had lost control in that moment and had “seen his wife in front of him.” However, in previous interviews, he stated that his motive was not to steal her phone. Rather, she had offended him by refusing to wear the proper hair covering, engaging in inappropriate phone conversations and mocking him when he attempted to advise her.
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. In Elaheh’s case, her family had requested execution as retribution.
Under the Islamic Penal Code, a woman's life is legally valued at half that of a man. Consequently, in cases where a man is sentenced to qisas for the murder of a woman, the victim's family is required to pay half the diya to the perpetrator's family prior to the execution. In Elaheh's case, as her family lacked the financial means to afford this sum, the judiciary paid the difference on their behalf for the execution to be carried out.
A Supreme Court judge stated that when a crime causes severe disruption to public order and widespread public outrage, as seen in the case of Elaheh Hosseinnejad, prosecutors hold the authority to intervene even when the victim's family cannot afford the diya difference. Following a formal request from the prosecutor and with the approval of the Head of the Judiciary, the state treasury (Bayt ol-Mal) can cover the statutory sum, enabling the qisas execution to proceed. This judicial clarification follows heightened public debate, sparked directly by the circumstances of Elaheh's case, regarding the necessity of amending the Islamic legal codes that mandate unequal blood money for male and female 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.