In yet another heartbreaking case of femicide in Iran, Fatemeh Barkhordari, a public schoolteacher in the city of Sabzevar, was brutally murdered by her husband on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. The killing took place in broad daylight on a public street, where she was attacked with a machete.
Fatemeh Barkhordari was exiting a vehicle with a friend when her husband suddenly attacked her from behind, striking her multiple times with a machete and killing her on the spot. The horrifying incident unfolded in full view of the public.
Shockingly, the perpetrator was also an employee of the Ministry of Education. Fatemeh Barkhordari, a mother of three, had been living separately from her husband due to a history of domestic abuse. She had repeatedly been subjected to violence and physical assault by him.
Before the murder, Barkhordari had formally reported her husband’s threats and abusive behavior to local education authorities. However, no protective action was taken to ensure her safety. She had recently filed for divorce and was living with her youngest child, while her two other children resided in Tehran.
Following the murder, the assailant fled to a park near his residence, where he was later arrested by police.
Tragically, this was not the first time her family had fallen victim to domestic violence. Years earlier, her mother was killed by her brother, who struggled with drug addiction.
First and foremost, social tragedies have political roots and origins, and ultimately, they must be attributed to the anti-human and misogynistic clerical regime, which is the source of the deep-seated traumas of this period in Iran’s history. At the heart of this inhumane ideology and policy lies the victimization of women and girls.
The Root Cause of the Problem
Not long before the horrific murder of Fatemeh Barkhordari—in broad daylight and in public view, by her husband, who is a teacher—Fatemeh Soltani was stabbed and killed in the street next to a water canal by her father.
On November 9th of last year, Mansoureh Ghadiri, a journalist, was also murdered by her husband, who was a lawyer.
These killings, more than being acts committed by fathers or husbands, are the result of explicit and implicit legal permissions shaped by the reactionary ideology of Iran’s ruling regime—a regime that executes one person every three hours, does not criminalize violence against women, and provides no legal protection for vulnerable women.
In conclusion, the root cause of the alarming rate of so-called honor killings in Iran lies in the misogyny and entrenched patriarchy institutionalized in the laws of the clerical regime—a regime that will soon be overthrown by the Iranian people.
