Iran Executes Dead 'Murderer' After She Suffers Fatal Heart Attack to Appease Victim's Family

In February 2021, the lawyer for Zahra Ismaili told the media she had died of a heart attack moments before her scheduled hanging — yet Iranian authorities went ahead and hanged her body to satisfy the victim's family. She had been convicted of murdering her husband. Her lawyer, Omid Moradi, said she collapsed while watching 16 other prisoners executed, and that the death certificate listed 'heart failure' as the cause of death.

What Happened and Why It Raises Alarm

Ismaili was condemned for killing her husband, an official in Iran's Intelligence Ministry, whom she claimed had been abusive toward her and their daughter. Her lawyer argued her action was self-defence. According to Moradi, she developed a fatal heart attack while waiting in the execution queue; nevertheless, authorities proceeded with the hanging to allow the victim's mother to 'kick the stool' beneath her.

Human-rights watchers condemned the incident as emblematic of due-process and human-dignity violations within Iran's capital-punishment system.

A Wider Escalation in Executions

The incident occurred amid a broader upward trend in Iran's use of the death penalty. In 2021 alone, at least 314 people were executed, per human-rights organisations, with many executions unreported publicly. By 2023, that figure rose dramatically: at least 853 executions were recorded, marking a 48 % increase on the prior year. In 2024, Iran reportedly executed around 975 people, the highest number in over two decades.

What Watchdogs are Saying

Amnesty International described the surge in executions as a horrifying escalation, noting that many of the individuals executed were from ethnic minorities or convicted for non-violent offences.
Human Rights Watch said: 'Iranian authorities are carrying out a horrific execution spree... the international community should urgently press Iran's authorities to halt all executions...' The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called the trends 'deeply troubling' in a 2025 statement.

What This Means for Iran's Justice System

The case of Zahra Ismaili draws attention to how Iran's judiciary handles capital-punishment proceedings — particularly regarding fairness, transparency, and respect for life. That her death did not halt her execution raises serious concerns about both the rule of law and the dignity of the condemned.

More broadly, the spike in executions suggests that Iran is relying increasingly on the death penalty as a means of social control and political repression, rather than strictly as a punishment for the 'most serious crimes' as required under international law. The disproportionate number of executions for drug-related offences and the high proportion of ethnic-minority victims point to systemic bias.

The incident also serves as a stark reminder to the international community that while numerical totals of executions matter, individual cases often reveal the more profound crisis of human-rights protections in Iran. When someone already dead is still executed, the moral and legal legitimacy of the process collapses.