TEHRAN, Jan 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A man was executed in Iran on Wednesday for the murder of a police officer in a central part of the country, the judiciary's official news agency reported.

"The killer intentionally ran over the police commander of the city of Zarandieh with his car while he was stopping smugglers on the side of a highway," Mizan Online said.

The incident occurred on May 30, 2023, in central Iran's Markazi province, according to the agency.

The defendant was sentenced to death under an Iranian law applied in murder cases when the victim's family requests the death penalty.

"The victim's parents refused to forgive the killer and the death sentence was carried out in Saveh prison this morning," Mizan reported.

Iran carries out the second highest number of executions worldwide per year after China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.

Capital punishment is applied in Iran for major crimes including murder, drug trafficking, rape and sexual assault.

In December, Iranian authorities executed a man convicted of assaulting dozens of women in Tehran.