The Execution of Arvin Ghahramani, a Young Jewish Man Accused of Murder, Has Been Carried Out

The news agency 'Mizan', affiliated with the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, reported the execution of Arvin Ghahramani, a young Jewish man accused of murder. According to this report, Hamidreza Karimi, the prosecutor of Kermanshah, confirmed the execution on the morning of Tuesday, November 14. This judicial official stated that Arvin Ghahramani killed the victim in the street with several knife stabs following a 'financial dispute' on November 21, 2022. Hamidreza Karimi emphasized that Arvin Ghahramani was 21 years old at the time of the murder and has not denied committing the murder since his arrest, and throughout his detention and trial, the efforts of lawyers to obtain the victim's family's consent have been unsuccessful. The Iranian Human Rights Organization had previously reported, citing relatives of Mr. Ghahramani, that 'when Arvin was attacked with a cold weapon, he took the weapon from the victim and defended himself. After injuring that individual, he also tried to save his life.' This human rights organization had warned on May 17 of this year about the imminent execution of this young Jewish man, emphasizing his transfer to quarantine. On June 24, the organization reported the rejection of Mr. Ghahramani's request for retrial by the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic. The organization also quoted relatives of the accused, stating that Arvin's court-appointed lawyer did not provide 'effective defense' and the issue of 'self-defense' was not raised in the case. The execution of a Jewish citizen accused of killing a Muslim individual in Iran is a rare occurrence. The execution of this Jewish citizen coincided with unprecedented tensions between the Islamic Republic and Israel, provoking significant reactions. The conviction of Arvin Ghahramani to death has also received considerable attention in the media and the Israeli community over the past two years. The Ma'ariv newspaper in Tel Aviv reported on November 14 that Arvin's family and the Jewish community in Iran confirmed the execution of this 20-year-old young man on Tuesday morning. Ma'ariv added that the family of the victim, Amir Shokri, 40 years old, refused to accept money that had been raised by the accused's family and opponents of the death penalty for Arvin and insisted on his execution. Sonia Sadati, Arvin's mother, had previously requested help from human rights organizations to save her son from the death penalty during the initial sentencing. Previous reports also indicated that Arvin's relatives and opponents of the death penalty in Iran had apparently offered multiple other proposals besides large sums of money for the commemoration of Amir Shokri to his family, stating they were ready to build a mosque, school, and places to keep Shokri's name alive. The Iranian Human Rights Organization based in Norway announced this week that the Islamic Republic of Iran executed 166 individuals in the last month. Jamshid Sharmard, a German citizen residing in the United States, was one of the executed last month.