Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 24 August 2026: Sajad Shirzadi (Kurdish) and Farshad Safari, two men on death row for separate murders, were executed in Karaj Penitentiary.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Karaj Penitentiary (Central Prison) on 23 April 2026. His identity has been established as Sajad Shirzadi (right photo), a 34-year-old Kurdish man from Kermanshah. He was arrested around four years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.
Another man was hanged at the prison on 19 August. He has been identified as Farshad Safari (left photo), a 40-year-old father of one from Hashtgerd. He was arrested around five years ago and also sentenced to qisas for murder.
At the time of writing, their executions have 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.