A minor has been executed in Iran. According to a report by Iran International, the boy was 17-year-old Hamidreza Azari from the city of Sabzevar in Razavi-Khorasan province. He was executed on Friday in the city's central prison. The family had not been given the body of the boy.

The death sentence against Azari was imposed according to the principle of “qesas,” according to the Iranian justice website Mizan Online. Qesas means retribution “in kind” and is the punishment for murder. According to Radio Farda, the Iranian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the teenager, born in 2006, was convicted as the main defendant in the murder of a man named Hamidreza Al-Daghi, whom regime media described as a "martyr." He is said to have been stabbed in an argument with a group of young men.

Executions of minors forbidden worldwide

The execution of minors at the time of the crime is forbidden by international human rights treaties. "This ban is based on the global consensus that young people do not fully understand the consequences of their actions and therefore should not be punished as harshly as adults," Amnesty International said. Nevertheless, real or alleged criminals who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime are repeatedly killed in Iran.

More than 600 executions in Iran in 2023

Over 600 death sentences are said to have been carried out in Iran since the beginning of the year. The Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) recorded 684 executions. This is the first time since 2016 that the mullahs' regime has exceeded the numer of 600 executions in one year.

The regime in Tehran recently executed Milad Zohrevand, human rights groups reported. The 22-year-old was arrested and sentenced to death last year during the Jin, Jiyan, Azadî protests following the state femicide of Jina Mahsa Amini.