Iran publicly executes man on alleged murder charges
Iran hanged a man in public on Tuesday after he and his wife were convicted of murdering a mother and her three children during a robbery in October 2024, judiciary's outlet Mizan reported.
Iran hanged a man in public on Tuesday after he and his wife were convicted of murdering a mother and her three children during a robbery in October 2024, judiciary's outlet Mizan reported.
“One of the perpetrators of the brutal murder of four members of a family in Beyram, in Fars province, was hanged in public on Tuesday,” Mizan said.
Earlier in February this year, Iranian authorities hanged a man from a bridge in the northeastern city of Esfarayen, in the country’s first public execution of the year.
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, according to Oslo-based rights group Iran Human Rights.
Iran has executed 800 people in less than eight months since the start of the year, including 30 political prisoners, according to Norway-based rights group Hengaw reported on Monday.
In June, Amnesty International warned that following the Iran-Israel conflict, Iranian authorities have called for expedited trials and executions, raising concerns over arbitrary use of the death penalty.
Last year, at least 975 people were executed in Iran, marking a 17% increase from the 834 executions recorded the previous year.
“In my meeting with the prime minister of Armenia, I emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran firmly believes in preserving Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and maintaining warm, continuing relations between our two countries,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X.
“Our concerns regarding the presence of third-party forces near our shared borders must be fully addressed.”
At a joint press conference with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Pezeshkian expanded on those remarks. “Outsourcing the resolution of Caucasus issues to extra-regional forces will only complicate the situation in the region,” he said.
Pezeshkian also stressed that “Iran supports the peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia” and added that “both the government and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic believe relations with Armenia should be expanded in all areas.”
The remarks come after a US-brokered peace deal last week between Armenia and Azerbaijan granted Washington leasing rights to develop the Zangezur transit corridor, now renamed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
The deal allows a US company to build and manage the route connecting Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan, a project Tehran has repeatedly described as a geopolitical risk.
State media said Iran and Armenia signed several cooperation memoranda on diplomacy, tourism, mining, health, infrastructure and environmental issues during Pezeshkian’s trip. The two leaders also attended an official welcoming ceremony in Yerevan earlier in the day.
Customs and transport cooperation
Additionally, Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development announced an agreement with Armenia to expand transport infrastructure and revise customs charges on vehicles entering Iran.
Road Minister Farzaneh Sadegh, who accompanied Pezeshkian, said there was an “imbalance of about $330” in vehicle fees charged by the two countries, and that Yerevan had agreed to set up a joint working group to review the matter.
She also said that “new routes must not come at the expense of geopolitical changes.”
The ministry said Armenia would soon tender contracts for the completion of the North-South transport corridor linking Russia, Iran and India via the Caucasus.
Iran’s red lines
Iran’s foreign ministry has repeatedly expressed its opposition to a foreign presence in the South Caucasus.
Also on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, "Armenia will never allow its territory to be used as a threat against Iran,” adding that Yerevan had assured Tehran it is aware of Iran’s red lines regarding the Zangezur corridor.
Araghchi said last week, “Armenian officials have told us they have respected and paid attention to all of Iran’s red lines in this matter,” he said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Baghaei said on Monday, “We have been very clear that we are sensitive to the presence of extra-regional actors."
“For us, the unblocking of routes must not harm internationally recognized borders or contradict Armenia’s national sovereignty,” Baghaei said.
