Iran: Leila Zarafshan, 95th Woman Executed During Rouhani’s Presidency

Iranian authorities executed a woman on Thursday morning, September 26, 2019, in Sanandaj Prison.
Leila Zarafshan is the 95th woman to be executed in Iran during Rouhani’s term in office since 2013
Iranian authorities executed a woman on Thursday morning, September 26, 2019, in Sanandaj Prison.

By Azita Carlson

September 26, 2019

On Thursday morning, September 26, 2019, Iranian authorities executed Leila Zarafshan. Leila Zarafshan, the 95th woman executed in Iran during Rouhani’s term in office since 2013, was in prison for five years on charges of murder.

Iran is the only country that executes juveniles and holds the highest number of female executions in the world.

Iranian authorities also executed 11 other people in the past two days. The horrific executions of the prisoners identified as Rauf Azadikhah, Shahaboddin Mohammad Pour, and Ebrahim Ahmadi Pour were carried out in Urmia Prison, northwest Iran on Thursday, September 26.

At least 3,800 people were executed during the tenure of the Iranian regime’s President Hassan Rouhani. This ranks Iran second in the world in terms of the number of people executed, and first in terms of the number of executions per capita.

Iran is estimated to have executed 285 people in 2018 and since January 2019, 176 people have been executed in Iran. The highest number of executions have been in July and August. The actual number of executions is much higher because the majority of executions in Iran are carried out secretly.

Since the appointment of Ebrahim Raisi, a man who took part in crimes against humanity in the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, as the new chief of Iran’s judiciary, the human rights situation has swiftly deteriorated in Iran.

Iran’s judiciary also sentenced a man to death in May for his affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

34-year-old Abdullah Ghasempour was arrested on May 21st, 2018 for setting fire to a Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Basij base, filming the event, and sending it to MEK media. On Sunday, the notorious judge, Mohammad Moghiseh, sentenced Ghasempour at branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to death plus eight years in prison on charges of “waging war on God,” “assembly and collusion,” and “membership in the MEK.”

Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman said the number of executions in Iran “remains one of the highest in the world.”

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance (NCRI), has repeatedly called on international human rights bodies to send an international investigation delegation to visit prisons in Iran and meet political prisoners.