Iranian man hanged from bridge in first public execution of 2025

Iranian authorities hanged a man from a bridge on Thursday in the northeastern city of Esfarayen, a human rights organization reported, in the country’s first public execution of the year.

Shoeib Rezapour, 28, was hanged on Behesht Esfarayen bridge after being convicted of murder, according to the Oslo-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR).

Rezapour had been convicted of fatally stabbing a man three and a half years ago, IHR said citing an informed source. His sentence was qisas, or retribution-in-kind under Iran’s Islamic legal system.

Iran remains one of the few countries to conduct public executions, a practice widely condemned by human rights groups.

Public hangings were halted in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions but resumed in 2022. That year, two people were hanged in public, increasing to seven in 2023 and four in 2024, IHR says.

IHR on Thursday also reported that eight prisoners were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj the previous morning. Six of them were convicted of murder, one was sentenced to death on drug charges and another was hanged for moharebeh or enmity against God in connection with an armed robbery charge.

Earlier this week IHR also warned of the imminent execution of two political prisoners Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani at the same prison after Iran's Supreme Court rejected their request for a retrial.

Last year, at least 975 people were executed in Iran, marking a 17% increase from the 834 executions recorded the previous year.