“Abbas [Mojahed] Kourkouri, who was sentenced to death for the crimes of moharebeh [enmity against God] by drawing a weapon with the intention of killing and intimidating people, corruption on earth by committing a crime by shooting with a military weapon, and forming and joining a baghi [armed rebellion] group by taking armed action, was hanged,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online said on Wednesday.
In December, an Iranian court sentenced Kourkour to death for the second time for allegedly killing Kian Pirfalak, a 9-year-old boy from Izeh in Khuzestan province, in November 2022 while he was with his family during widespread protests in the country - allegations denied by the boy’s mother.
During Pirfalak's funeral, his mother Mahmonir Molaei-Rad publicly stated that "security forces" had fired at their car and stressed that Kourkour was not responsible for the death of her son.
Koukour’s execution report was released alongside a confession documentary, though such confessions are widely believed to be coerced, often obtained through threats, psychological pressure, and, in some cases, physical torture.
The Mizan report accused Kourkour of being ”one of the main factors behind the unrest in Izeh County in recent years, which led to the martyrdom and injury of a number of citizens of the city,” referring to 2022 unrest during the “Jin Jiyan Azadi” (Women Life Freedom) protests in Iran sparked by the death of 22-year-old Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in custody of the so-called morality police.
The judiciary further accused Kourkour of charges of disrupting public order, destroying property, possessing illegal firearms, theft, and drug and alcohol trafficking.
In its 2023 report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said Kourkour was not at the protest and that Pirfalak was killed by security forces, according to his family.
“Authorities falsely accused Kourkour of murdering Kian Pirfalak, a young child, and several others during a November 2022 protest in Izeh, despite him allegedly not being at the protest and Pirfalak’s family claiming plainclothes security forces killed him,” the USCIRF said.
At least 582 prisoners, including 19 political, religious, and security inmates, have been executed in Iranian prisons during the first 161 days of 2025, Hengaw Human Rights Organization reported.
Iran executed an estimated 909 people in 2024, with Kurds making up 20 percent of the total number, according to Hengaw. Human rights organizations have criticized Tehran’s use of the death penalty, especially for minority groups and people who protest against the Iranian government.
Amini died while in police custody on September 16, 2022 after she was arrested for allegedly wearing a lax hijab. Her death sparked Iran’s longest protest movement in the past four decades. The movement grew into an anti-government revolution as the authorities responded with violence. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested.
Iran ranks second globally for known executions, according to Amnesty International.
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