Execution of Arvin Ghahramani, Iranian Jew, Despite Efforts from the Jewish Community

The sentence of Arvin Ghahramani, an Iranian Jewish youth who was sentenced to death at the age of 18 for "premeditated murder" in a street brawl, was carried out on Monday morning, November 14. His case was initiated in November 2022, and the defendant's lawyers submitted three requests for retrial, all of which were rejected. Despite the efforts of human rights organizations, the Jewish community, and the defendant's family over the past two years, the retribution sentence was executed this morning after the confirmation of the sentence by the Supreme Court and the victim's family's refusal to grant clemency. Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, reacted to the news on X, stating that amidst threats of war with Israel, the Islamic Republic executed Arvin Ghahramani, an Iranian Jewish citizen. This human rights activist added that Arvin's case, like many retribution cases, had serious flaws in the judicial process. Alongside these issues, Arvin's Jewish identity and the deep-rooted anti-Semitism within the structure of the Islamic Republic played a significant role in the execution of his sentence. Arvin Ghahramani was arrested two years ago following a confrontation that led to the death of Amir Shakouri, a Muslim citizen, and was swiftly sentenced to death in a judicial process. His relatives previously stated that "deliberately, certain aspects were ignored in his case, and Arvin's assistance to the injured person for transfer to the hospital and efforts to save his life were not mentioned in the verdict." Arvin Ghahramani's request for retrial was "rejected without serious consideration, and many events at the time of the injury leading to death were also overlooked." Additionally, Arvin Ghahramani's relatives told Iran Human Rights that "for unknown reasons, the appointed lawyer did not provide effective defense for him, and the issue of self-defense was not seriously raised in the case." A source close to this young Iranian Jew's family stated that "when Arvin was attacked with a cold weapon, he took the weapon from the assailant and defended himself. After the individual was injured, he also tried to save his life, but medical assistance arrived late for the victim." The website Hrana had previously reported that the Ghahramani family's efforts to gain the victim's family's consent and pay blood money due to differences in retribution laws among religions had been unsuccessful. Furthermore, Arvin Ghahramani's mother, in a voice message shared on social media, requested help from the public, saying: "Pray for Arvin so that my child can return home." On the other hand, Homayoun Sameh-Yah, head of the Jewish Association of Iran, announced that requests to meet with the victim's family and the new Friday prayer leader of Kermanshah, Hojjatoleslam Rahimian, were rejected. His and some parliament members' efforts, including the representative from Natanz, to mediate and gain the victim's family's consent also yielded no results. Proposals such as building a school in the victim's name and paying blood money were also rejected by the victim's heirs. This case has raised serious concerns within the Jewish community in Iran. Human rights activists believe that retribution laws and their differential application between Muslims and non-Muslims demonstrate systematic discrimination against religious minorities. Reports indicate that with the execution of at least 161 prisoners in Iran last month and a more than 100% increase in executions compared to the previous month, October has been the deadliest month of the current year. According to Amnesty International, 74% of recorded executions worldwide last year were carried out by the Islamic Republic.