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
- 9,221
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 9,221 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
JANUARY 7, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Sobhani and Akbar Javadzadeh executed in Rasht on January 7
JANUARY 5, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohsen Saravani executed in Zahedan on December 16
JANUARY 4, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Soheil Jalvaran and Hojat Kalkhoran executed in Ardabil on January 4
JANUARY 4, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Sabzevar on January 4
Hashem Zorabadi, Amir Ahmadzadeh, Mehdi Kivanlu
- JANUARY 4, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Soheil Jeloran and Hojjat Kalkhoran executed in Ardabil on January 4
JANUARY 4, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Moradian executed in Hamadan on January 4
JANUARY 4, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Asghar Barzegar executed in Yazd on January 4
- JANUARY 3, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Ardabil on January 3
Naser Peydayi, Mohammad Nadiri, and Farzad Mohammadi
JANUARY 3, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Rasaei could be executed soon
Kurdish political prisoner arrested during Women-Life-Freedom
JANUARY 3, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Roya Heshmati, a Kurdish female activist, lashed 74 times
But still refused to wear the hijab
JANUARY 2, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Davoud Abdollahi Executed in Karaj on January 2
Kurdish Political Prisoner
JANUARY 2, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Naghi Zayerfar executed in Maragheh on January 2
- JANUARY 2, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 executions in Ardabil on January 2
JANUARY 1, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 unidentified men executed in Karaj on January 1
JANUARY 1, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Karaj on January 1
Manouchehr Aqabi, Dariush Shekarzadeh, Masoud Rostami, Navkhas Maleki e Afshin Mohammadi
JANUARY 1, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran HRM 2023 Annual Report
850 executions
DECEMBER 31, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 men executed in Birjand on December 31
Shir Ahmad Sanjrani, Amanullah Sanjrani, Bidollah Brahui, Ghousalddin Nahtani, Javad Chopani, Hamid Jahani
DECEMBER 31, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hengaw Organization for Human Rights releases its 2023 report
Execution of 823 Prisoners in Iran during 2023
DECEMBER 31, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nur Ahmad Ghalandarzahi executed in Shiraz on December 31
DECEMBER 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdul Shawali executed in Karaj on December 30
DECEMBER 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN 2 Afghan citizens executed in Karaj on December 30
Not identified
DECEMBER 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Asghar Abdullah Parikhani and Abbas Faraj Oghli executed in Meshgin Shahr
Parikhani on December 29, Oghli on December 25
DECEMBER 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men “recently” executed in Karaj
Akbar Qara Gozlu, Ehsan Hamedi + Unk.
DECEMBER 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 political prisoners executed in Urmia on December 28
3 men and 1 woman: Aram Omri, Rahman Parhazou, Vafa Hanareh, and Nasim Namazi
DECEMBER 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Rahbar executed in Gorgan on December 28
DECEMBER 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Karim Aminikhah executed in Bandar Abbas on December 28
DECEMBER 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Eyvazi executed in Kashan on December 28
- DECEMBER 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Public execution in Najaf Abad for the murder of a police agent
Unidentified
DECEMBER 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unnamed man executed in Yazd on December 28
DECEMBER 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ismaeil Ghader Magham (Barahoei) executed in Birjand on December 27