Incredible photo showing Iranian prisoner grinning moments before he was executed resurfaces after two judges shot dead
A PHOTO showing the incredible final moments of a man’s life has resurfaced – as he grins just moments before he is executed.
The photograph of Iranian Majid Kavousifar, 28, captures the remarkable smile he gave with a noose around his neck, seconds before his hanging in August 2007.
Along with his nephew Hossein, he was convicted of the murder of Judge Masoud Ahmadi Moghaddasi in August 2005.
The photos shows Majid smiling and waving his hand at someone, who reports suggest is his nephew.
He continues to hold up his hand in that position even as he is slowly raised in the air to be suffocated to death in central Tehran.
His reported last words to police officers were: “I reached the point at which I decided to eradicate any injustice.”
One photo of the chilling event does show Majid with a more stoic look, as his executioners tighten the rope around his neck.
The resurfaced moments are also captured alongside a young girl in a pink tracksuit, watching on without expression as Majid is killed in front of her eyes.
In August 2005, Majid rode on a motorcycle whilst shooting and killing Judge Masoud Ahmadi Moghaddasi.
After the murder, Majid escaped from Iran to the UAE where he pleaded the US embassy for refugee status.
The embassy surrendered him to police and he was extradited back to Iran.
At the time, the execution of Majid and Hossein were the first public executions carried out in Tehran in five years.
Judge Masoud was one of several judges of Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Court allegedly responsible for the mass execution of political dissidents in 1988.
TWO JUDGES KILLED
This comes as two veteran Iranian Supreme Court judges were killed yesterday by an assailant, who later took his own life.
Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, 68, and Judge Ali Razini, 71, were shot in a “planned assassination” in Tehran.
Reports say that the incident is being treated as an act of terrorism.
The two men were known for working high profile cases “fighting crimes against national security, espionage and terrorism“.
The judiciary’s Mizan Online website said: “This morning, a gunman infiltrated the Supreme Court in a planned act of assassination of two brave and experienced judges.
“The two judges were martyred in the act.”
A motive behind the shock killing was not immediately clear but Mizan said the assailant was not involved in any cases before the Supreme Court.
No further details on the attacker’s identity were released but Iran‘s President Masoud Pezeshkian urged an investigation take place into the shock shooting.
Pezeshkian said: “I strongly urge the security and law enforcement forces to take the necessary measures as soon as possible by examining the dimensions and angles of this reprehensible act and to identify its perpetrators.”
Both of these men had faced allegations of miscount whilst working in the country.
Moghisseh has had a rocky past with the West as he was sanctioned by the EU in 2011 and by the United States in 2019.
The US Department of the Treasury accused him of having “overseen countless unfair trails, during which charges went unsubstantiated and evidence was disregarded”.
Iran's executions
by Emma Parry, Senior Reporter
THE Sun has exclusively reported on the “unprecedented numbers” of executions taking place in Iran.
It was said that executions are taking place every couple of hours as the “paranoid” regime lashes out in the wake of defeats against its proxies to Israel.
Shocking evidence – including official figures and letters from death row prisoners – gathered by The Sun exposes that Iran’s killing machine is responsible for over three quarters of the entire world’s executions.
On New Year’s Day alone, at least 12 people were hanged in prisons across the country.
The grim toll includes women, children and political prisoners – often sentenced to death without any regard to a fair trial or due process.
Behzad Naziri, a former political prisoner of the regime, who managed to escape from one of Iran’s most notorious prisons, has told The Sun how the “unprecedented surge” in executions is a “sign of the weakness of a regime on the verge of being overthrown”.
Naziri, a member of the NCRI’s foreign committee, whose own sister was executed, said: “The unprecedented number of executions indicates that the regime is indeed becoming increasingly
paranoid.
“These actions are a desperate attempt by Khamenei to suppress any dissent and maintain control amid growing unrest and demands for regime change.
“We must bear in mind that this regime has kept its grip on
power through repression and executions at home, and terrorism and warmongering abroad, mainly through its proxies.
“Being the world’s record holder for the number of executions per capita is not a sign of strength; it indicates a failure to quell dissent despite its brutal behavior.
“Therefore, the unprecedented surge in executions, like with all dictators, shows that this regime is also on its last leg and sees no future for its rule in the face of growing opposition.
“The inhumane murder of its populace under any pretext is only a sign of the weakness of a regime on the verge of being overthrown.”
Of the 1,000 executed in 2024, 34 were women and seven were under 18 at the time of their crime.
Razini held several important positions in Iran‘s judiciary and has been the target of assassination attempts in the past.
In 1998, he survived an assassination attempt after a bomb was attached to his vehicle.
Razini had been accused of being one of the judges involved in the infamous “Death Commission” committee.
The commission was responsible for overseeing the tragic prosecution and execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.
Iran has faced other instances of target violence in the past.
A Shiite Muslim preacher was shot dead in the southern city of Kazeroun after leading Friday prayers, in October.