Execution of at least four individuals on the first day of the New Year in Iran

According to media and human rights sources, at least four prisoners, including an Afghan citizen, were executed on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, in the prisons of Qazalhasar and Yasouj. According to Rokna news agency, three of the individuals executed in Qazalhasar prison in Karaj, Alborz province, were accused of 'murder' in 2022. Rokna reported the first names of two of the executed individuals in Qazalhasar as 'Arshia' and an Afghan citizen named 'Amir', without mentioning their ages or full identities. The Hengaw human rights organization, which had reported the transfer of at least 10 prisoners in Qazalhasar to solitary confinement for the execution of death sentences in recent days, stated that 'Arshia' was approximately 22 years old. The news agency Hrana, the news organ of the human rights activists in Iran, also reported the execution of a prisoner accused of 'murder' in Yasouj prison, located in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. The identity of this prisoner, Pejman Masoudi Koushk, approximately 25 years old, was mentioned. Iranian media, which usually do not report on executions in the Islamic Republic, did not publish news about the execution of this prisoner in Yasouj. The issuance and execution of death sentences under the title of 'Qisas-e Nafs' (retribution in kind) in the Islamic Republic of Iran occurs under conditions where, according to government laws, intentional murder is not graded, and 'any type of murder, regardless of severity and motive, leads to the issuance of a death sentence.' Although the judiciary of the Islamic Republic does not officially announce executions in many cases, according to documentation collected by independent human rights organizations, the number of executions in Iran indicates that the government holds the first position globally in violating the right to life. Previously, May Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, criticized the human rights situation and the increasing number of executions in the prisons of the Islamic Republic, calling for a reduction in the issuance of death sentences in Iran. The campaign 'No to Executions on Tuesdays' emphasizes the need to stand against the barbarity of the Iranian government. Dozens of British parliamentarians stated that executions in Iran are aimed at 'creating terror.' The Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz stated that forgiveness is not necessary for the blind Mujahid under the knife. A research report by Hrana indicated that at least 883 people were executed in Iran in 2024.