Four prisoners, including an Afghan national, executed in Karaj and Zanjan

Hengaw — Sunday, November 23, 2025

Jasem Aghaei, Omid Farokhnezhad, Jahangir Hessari and Asad Pirbab were executed in Karaj and Zanjan prisons after being sentenced to death on charges of “murder” or “drug-related offences”.

Based on information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Aghaei, whose case involved the charge of “murder”, was executed at Karaj Central Prison at dawn on Saturday, November 22, 2025.

In a separate case, the executions of three other prisoners were carried out at Zanjan Central Prison at dawn on Monday, November 17, 2025. They were Farokhnezhad, Hessari, a 62-year-old Turk from Tabriz, and Pirbab, around 30 and from Bamyan, Afghanistan. 

According to informed sources, Farokhnezhad had been convicted on “drug-related” charges, while Hessari and Pirbab had been held for the past two years in separate cases involving similar “drug-related” accusations before receiving death sentences.

These executions had not been reported by Iranian state media, including outlets affiliated with the judiciary.