By: Rezvan Moghaddam

On Wednesday, May 7, 2025, Mobina Kandabi, a 28-year-old mother of two from Baghu
village in Bandar-e-Gaz (Golestan province), was shot in the park in Kordkuy by her
husband using a hunting rifle. She died several hours later at the hospital. While Islamic
Republic media outlets framed the killing as a “family dispute,” witnesses and informed
sources confirm this was an honor killing—part of a broader pattern of gender-based
violence in Iran.
The perpetrator, approximately 30 years old, fled the scene after the attack but was later
arrested. Mobina was buried on Thursday, leaving behind two children.
Once again, official media downplayed the killing as a personal disagreement, avoiding
any mention of systemic violence, misogyny, or the state’s failure to prevent such
crimes.
In many similar cases, men resort to killing as a way to reassert control and possession
over women who attempt to exercise autonomy. In a society where women are still
regarded as male property, even the smallest sign of independence can be interpreted
as a threat to patriarchal authority and “honor.” When a woman resists control, she is
not seen as a person with rights—but as a challenge to male pride, to be “corrected”
through violence.
Mobina’s killing reflects the structural crisis of violence against women in Iran, where
men kill under the guise of protecting family honor, and the state enables this by using
vague, dismissive language like “family dispute.”
Since the start of Ordibehesht (April 20, 2025), at least 18 women in Iran have been
murdered by male family members—husbands, fathers, brothers, or close relatives.
This chilling figure is not an aberration, but part of an entrenched pattern of repeating
honor killings, fueled by the absence of protective laws, lack of social support, and
cultural normalization of male dominance.
honor killings like Mobina’s are not personal tragedies—they are political acts rooted in
systemic impunity and a misogynistic culture. Each time a woman is killed, it is a failure
not just of one man, but of an entire system that allows such violence to continue
unchecked.

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