Baluch Conscript Soldier Ali Dehani Hanged in Zahedan

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Ali Dehani, a Baluch man on death row for murder, was executed in Zahedan Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a Baluch man was hanged in Zahedan Central Prison on 14 April 2025. His identity has been established as Ali Dehani, a conscript soldier from the village of Genk in the Sib and Soran County. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Ali was serving as a conscripted soldier at the Kaskin outpost in Bampur County. On 6 November 2022, a week after Bloody Friday, some policemen were mocking and insulting Molana Abdolhamid (the Zahedan Friday prayer Imam). Ali got into an altercation with them in defence of Molana Abdolhamid, during which four people were killed. Yesterday, Ali’s family had their final visit with him.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.

Crucially, while an indicative amount is set by the Judiciary every year, there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money.

According to IHRNGO’s 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 419 people including a juvenile offender and 19 women, were executed for murder charges, the highest number of qisas executions since 2010. Only 12% of the recorded qisas executions were announced by official sources. In 2024, Iran Human Rights also recorded 649 cases of families choosing diya or forgiveness instead of qisas executions.