Amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran and its various proxies, Tehran on Monday executed a young Jewish citizen who was found guilty of murder charges.
20-year-old Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani, a Jewish Iranian, was executed on Monday morning in Iran's Kermanshah. Ghahremani's family and the minority Jewish community have been fighting a legal battle for the past two years to save his life. But all hopes were lost when the Mizan Online website of the Iranian judiciary confirmed the execution of the youngster.
Quoting a Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, the Times Of Israel said that Ghahremani was hanged at the central prison in the western city of Kermanshah.
Why was Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani hanged?
Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani was convicted of murdering another Iranian during a street fight. The victim was identified as Amir Shokri, another youth who Ghahremani knew from the gym.
According to available information, Amir Shokri owed Ghahremani money. On the day of the incident, the duo had a fight after Shokri tried to stab Ghahremani at the gym. Despite being surprised while working out, young Ghahremani managed to defend himself and engaged Shokri in a fistfight. In the course of the confrontation, Ghahremani ended up snatching the weapon from Shokri and stabbing him with it, the TOI report said.
When he realised how things had escalated, Ghahremani took Amir Shokri to a hospital. However, his life couldn't be saved.
However, salient details of the case like Shokri stabbing the Jewish youth first and Ghahremani's effort to rush him to the hospital didn't made it to the court papers. This led to Ghahremani being found guilty and sentenced to death.
Understanding Iran's 'Qisas' law
In Iran, a person found guilty of intentional murder can buy his way out of the gallow if the family of the deceased says it forgives the perpetrator. They can give consent to pardon the murderer after accepting blood money or "diyah" from his/her family.
The Jewish community helped Ghahremani's family to raise the blood money needed to stall the execution. When they approached Shokri’s kin with it, they refused to accept it. According to Israeli media reports, the family of the dead man was under pressure from Tehran to deny Ghahremani pardon by accepting the blood money.
The Iranian penal code for retributive justice is known as “Qisas.” The case also points the finger at the discriminatory criminal law system that Tehran follows.
A 2003 report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) elaborates on how the system is biased towards its citizens. Articles 207 and 209 of the Penal Code provide that “qisas” is applicable when a Muslim is murdered. It is also applicable when a member of a recognized religious minority murders another member of a recognized religious minority (Article 21016).
However, no provision of the Penal Code envisages the murder of a non-Muslim by a Muslim, the punishment of which is left to the discretion of the judges. Article 2 of the Penal Code states that “Every action or omission of an action for which there is a punishment in law, will be regarded as an offence”. On the contrary, in the absence of any punishment in law (like in the case of the murder of a non-Muslim by a Muslim) a judge can consider that no offence has taken place at all.
Death penalty in Iran
In 2023, Amnesty International recorded that Iran accounted for 74% of executions worldwide. Iran (at least 853 executions), Saudi Arabia (172 executions), Somalia (at least 38 executions), the U.S. (24 executions), and Iraq (at least 16 executions) were the top five countries responsible for recorded executions.
In 2022, Iran was second (576+) behind China in the death penalty tally, data showed. Between 2007 and 2012, Tehran executed 1,663 prisoners.
Iran-Israel conflict
Ghahremani was originally scheduled to be executed in May 2024. However, he was granted a last-minute stay of the sentence at the time, reports said. His execution coming at a time of direct conflict between the two nations is not a coincidence, Israeli media point out.
Before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were some 100,000 Jews in Iran. By 2016, an Iranian census confirmed that number had fallen to below 10,000.