Jewish Iranian set to be executed Monday for allegedly killing man in self-defense
Opposition site says Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani was defending himself against knife attack when he killed Amir Shokri in brawl; victim’s family can spare him, but refused to do so
A Jewish Iranian man is set to be executed on Monday for killing a man in a brawl two years ago, an Iranian human rights group said.
The opposition linked Iran International news website said that Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani was allegedly defending himself after being attacked with a knife, and that the sentence came under the penal code for “retributive justice.”
According to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) Ghahremani, 20, from the southwestern city of Kermanshah was set to be executed on Saturday, but his family was informed the execution will now take place on Monday.
Ghahremani was convicted of the “intentional murder” of Amir Shokri for his role in the fight two years ago.
The reports said that his only hope of being spared under Iran’s Islamic code is if the family of the dead man agree to forgive him, something they have so far refused to do.
IHR carried a voice recording from Ghahremani’s mother pleading for people to pray for her son to be saved.
Video circulated on social media apparently showed prayers being held for Ghahremani this week at the Rachel’s Tomb pilgrimage site in the central West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were some 100,000 Jews in Iran; by 2016, according to an Iranian census, that number had fallen to below 10,000.
Iran is openly sworn to Israel’s destruction and financially supports terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas that are also committed to this aim.
Prominent figures in the Jewish community of Iran intermittently issue anti-Israel statements that match the regime’s agenda.
Amnesty International said last month that Iran executed 853 people in 2023, the highest total since 2015.
The Iranian authorities have “persisted with their state-sanctioned killing spree which has turned prisons into killing fields,” Amnesty said.
Agencies contributed to this report.
