Barely two days after another public execution of a convicted murderer, Iran on Thursday, 21 August, 2025 announced that a man convicted of murder was also publicly hanged at the scene of his alleged crime.
Most executions in Iran are carried out inside prisons. Public executions are generally reserved for offences that caused particular outrage.
Provincial judiciary chief Heidar Asiabi told the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website that the ‘latest hanging was carried out at dawn in the city of Kordkuy “at the scene of the crime and in public”.
The condemned man had been convicted of killing “a couple and a young woman with a hunting rifle” late last year, Mizan reported.
On Tuesday, 19 August, 2025, a man was publicly hanged in the southern province of Fars after being convicted of murdering a mother and her three children during a robbery.
His wife, who was also sentenced to death, is to be executed in prison at a later date.
According to human rights groups including Amnesty International, Iran executes more people than any other country except China.
Last month, UN Human Rights Office appealed to Iran to stop using the death penalty, citing a “worrying surge in executions” that saw at least 612 people reportedly executed in the first half of this year.
Iran replied that it restricts its use of the death penalty to “only the most severe crimes”.
Murder, rape, adultery and some drug crimes are capital offences in Iran.
The Islamic law offences of “enmity against God” and “corruption on Earth” are also punishable by death.
