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
- JUNE 18, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in public on June 18
In Deylam
- JUNE 18, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Fazl Ahmad Ghafran (Rukhshani) executed in Kerman on June 18
- JUNE 18, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamed … executed in Gorgan on June 18
JUNE 18, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Kerman on June 18
Mohammad Sepahi, Fazl Ahmad Ghafran, Gholam Mir + Unk
- JUNE 17, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mahmoud Rakhshani executed in Zahedan on June 17
- JUNE 17, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Brar Kazemi executed in Shiraz on June 17
- JUNE 15, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Man (not identified) sentenced to death for killing MP
- JUNE 14, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hasan Ali Hasanpour executed in Gachsaran on June 14
- JUNE 14, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Milad Qobadi executed in Yasuj on June 14
- JUNE 13, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid… executed in Gohardasht on June 13
JUNE 13, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Gohardasht on June 13
Vahid Dinpajuh, Hamedi Ahmadi + 2 Unk
JUNE 12, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hadi Al-Naser executed in Ahvaz on June 12
361 executions since the beginning of the year
JUNE 12, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Pourkhosravani executed in Sirjan on June 12
- JUNE 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Haidar Chishti + Unk executed in Torbat-e-Jam on June 11
- JUNE 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Alireza Shahcheraghi and Taher Nouri executed in Shiraz on June 11
JUNE 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran Hands Over Scores Of Afghan Prisoners To Taliban
JUNE 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Amani-Nejad and Hamed Yavari executed in Hamedan on June 11
JUNE 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ebrahim Gomshadzehi executed in Kerman on June 11
JUNE 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Daryush Rahimi executed in Mashhad on June 11
In prison, not in public as the sentence said
- JUNE 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeid Nasiri and Masoud Sasani executed in Karaj on June 10
- JUNE 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Urmia on June 9
Jafar Mohammadpour, Ghobad Farhadi + Unk
JUNE 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Houshang Amirzadeh executed in Qazvin on June 8
JUNE 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Doust Barahouyi executed in Zahedan on June 8
JUNE 7, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hasan Brahui executed in Gorgan on June 7
JUNE 7, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi risk the death sentence
Accused of having 'made up' the Mahsa Amini case
- JUNE 6, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 2 men executed in Karaj on June 6
Einollah Badri-Nejad + Unk
JUNE 6, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Malik Baloch Mahani and Kambiz Barzkar executed in Kerman on June 6
JUNE 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Mohammad Zeraat and Esmail Nasiri executed in Shiraz on June 2
JUNE 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ashkan Sohrabi and Arya Parvizi executed in Kenhaj on June 1
333 executions since the beginning of the year
JUNE 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Aghil Arab + Unk executed in Isfahan on June 1