HRANA – At dawn on Wednesday, September 17, the death sentences of two prisoners previously convicted of murder in separate cases by the Criminal Court were carried out in Tabriz Prison.
Iran Human Rights has identified the identities of the two prisoners as Zahra Fotouhi, 52, from Tabriz, and Morteza Shirkhani, 40, from Tabriz.
According to the report, Ms. Fotouhi was arrested in 2020 on a charge of murder and later sentenced to death by the Criminal Court, while Mr. Shirkhani was arrested in 2021 on a similar charge and likewise sentenced to death.
Ms. Fotouhi was accused of murdering her first husband due to alleged harassment, nine years after remarrying following her divorce. Mr. Shirkhani, meanwhile, was arrested for allegedly killing a friend over financial disputes.
As of the time of this report, the executions have not been officially announced by prison authorities or other relevant institutions.
In 2024, according to 812 reports compiled by HRANA, the Iranian regime executed 930 individuals in its prisons—marking the highest number of executions in the past 12 years. Despite the scale of these executions, prison officials and other relevant authorities publicly acknowledged only 6% of them, highlighting the regime’s lack of transparency and accountability.