Iran
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 869
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 2,156
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The 1999 figures for capital sentences and executions...
- News items in the archive
- 8,611
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Iran is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 869 executions in the country, against 2,156 the year before. The archive holds 8,611 news items on Iran, from 1999 to today.
Iran is one of the countries where the association records the highest number of executions each year. The usual method is hanging, and capital punishment applies to a wide list of offences: murder, drug offences, offences against state security, sexual offences, and charges such as moharebeh, enmity against God, which allow very broad application.
Many executions are never announced. They emerge from local sources, from human rights organisations and from families. For Iran, more than anywhere else, the archive's count is a documented minimum.
Latest news
OCTOBER 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Emambakhsh Gorgij executed in Torbat Heydarieh on October 8
- OCTOBER 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehrab Sintab executed in Karaj on October 8
- OCTOBER 6, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Two unidentified men executed in Mashhad on October 6
OCTOBER 6, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jailed Iranian Activist Mohammadi Wins Nobel Peace Prize
OCTOBER 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 16-year-old girl seriously injured by 'moral police'
Armita Geravand (Garavand)
OCTOBER 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yasin Huseynzade sentenced to death
Assailant of Azerbaijan's embassy in Iran
- OCTOBER 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 5 men executed in Shiraz on October 1
Hamidreza Khodabandeh and 4 unidentified men
OCTOBER 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Samad Moradi executed in Ramhormoz on October 1
OCTOBER 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified man executed in Mashhad on October 1
OCTOBER 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Kerman on October 1
Avaz Moradi, Ramezan Khorshid + 3 unk
OCTOBER 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified man executed in Mashhad on October 1
- OCTOBER 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Taghi … executed in Mashhad on October 1
Surname unknown
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Bagher Bazgir and Sasan Farzipour executed in Khorramabad on September 30
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ehsan Dehqanipour executed in Borujard on August 29
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Najafi and Bahram … executed in Karaj on September 27
554 executions in 2023
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jafar Ghaed executed in Ahar on September 27
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men executed in Karaj on September 27
Saman Asgari and Mozafar ... (surname unknown)
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Askar Nami executed in Tabriz on September 26
SEPTEMBER 26, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 sentenced to death over bootleg alcohol that killed 17
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Death of Faramarz Javidzad, a Jewish Prisoner with Iranian-American Citizenship
Due to Denied Medical Access in Evin Prison
SEPTEMBER 25, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Khosh Shaneh and Saeed Brahui Makaki executed in Mashhad
On September 24 and 25
SEPTEMBER 23, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified prisoner executed in Minab on September 23
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Vali Jabari executed in Isfahan on September 23
SEPTEMBER 23, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khairallah Jamshidi executed in Minab on September 23
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rahmatollah Nouruzof sentenced to death for terrorism
On September 21
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Prisoners'swap: 5 Americans and 6 billions for 5 Iranians
SEPTEMBER 17, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on September 13 and 17
Ramezan Yavari, Mozafar Sanjarani + Unk
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Mansour Khakzad executed in Boroujerd on September 13
544 executions in 2023
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Birjand on Septembe 10
Mohsen and Saeed Sanjarani, and Abdolnaser Ghaljayi
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Zahedan on September 9
Mohammad Narouyi (Narouei) + 2 Unk