Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 18 June 2026: At least eight men were executed in a group hanging in Ghezelhesar Prison on 13 June and two men were hanged on 15 June.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least eight men were hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 13 June 2026. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. Three of the men have been identified as Amirabbas Dakami (centre left) from Gharchak, Seyed Akbar Banihashem (right photo) and Mehdi Moradian. The identities of the other five men have not been established at the time of writing.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Amirabbas was arrested for murder six years ago after a group fight. Akbar was also arrested for murder that took place in a group fight in Gharchak seven years ago.
Two other men were hanged at the prison on 15 June. Their identities have been established as Alireza Ahmadi (left photo), known as Ali Balance, and Namdar Bagheri (middle centre photo) from Kermanshah who were sentenced to death on drug-related charges.
Alireza was arrested in Eslamshahr for 120 kilograms of methamphetamines (shisheh) seven years ago and Namdar was arrested 12 years ago. Alireza’s execution was carried out secretly, without prior notice and the last family visit.
At the time of writing, none of their executions have 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. In March 2026, the indicative diya was set at 2.1 billion tomans (approx. €10,700) for a Muslim man and 1.05 billion tomans (€5,350) for a Muslim woman, a 75% increase compared to the previous year. 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.