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
- 9,142
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 9,142 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
FEBRUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 12 men executed on February 16
FEBRUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mina Nasirpour, a woman, executed in Tabriz on February 16
9th woman hanged in 2026
FEBRUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sadegh Manafi executed in Tabriz on February 16
FEBRUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Victim Accounts: Amirhossein Saeedi killed in hospital
FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 15th Day of Protests: Sharp Rise in Human Casualties
FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on Day 50 of the Protests: 7,015 confirmed fatalities, 11,744 under review
FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hengaw Report on 330 victims
- FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 16 men and a woman executed on February 14 and 15
More than 500 executions in Iran since the beginning of 2026
- FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 7 death sentences were carried out on Feb. 15
Asghar Esmaeili, Vahid Karami, Einollah Rahimzadeh, Farzad Fazli, Davoud Ghafouri, Sadeq Manafi, Hassan Doosti
- FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Reza Karami executed in Dorud on February 15
FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ehsan Rajabi executed in Kashan on February 15
FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Navid Shabanian executed in Kashmar on February 15
FEBRUARY 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on the 49th day of protests: 7,010 confirmed fatalities, 11,744 under review
“Unidentified Bodies” and the Continued Judicial Case-Building
- FEBRUARY 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 12 people executed on February 14
4 other executions were already reported
FEBRUARY 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nima Jafari killed under torture after arrest in Bandar Abbas
A 22-year-old Kurdish man
FEBRUARY 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Victim accounts: the killing of Jahanbakhsh Hesar Firouzeh, 70
FEBRUARY 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on day 48 of the Protests: 7,008 confirmed fatalities, 11,730 under review
Ongoing Arrests, UN Warning, and Rising Number of Forced Confessions
FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Victim Accounts: the Isfahan crackdown
FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Victim Accounts: Alireza Ghaleghafi, 22-Year-Old Law Student
FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 18 year old Saleh Mohammadi sentenced to public hanging
The young athlete charged with the murder of a policeman during the protest in Qom
FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on day 47 of the Protests: 7,005 confirmed fatalities, 11,730 under investigation
- FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 13 men executed on February 12
Darvish Ali Emami, Arash Davari, Saeed Adineh, Reza Barati, Hassan Kamare’i, Keyhan Rouzi, Kiarash Lashkari, Amirhossein Ghadami, Karim Garaei, ... Aghapour, Panj Ali Ebrahimi, Peyman Khani, and Mohammadreza Abdollahi
FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentence of Yaghoub Karimpour upheld by Supreme Court
For “espionage in favor of Israel"
FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - European Parliament adopts resolution condemning Iran
Almost unanimously
FEBRUARY 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nima Jafari died in custody
22, arrested a few days before
FEBRUARY 11, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on Day 46 of the Protests: 7,002 confirmed deaths, 11,730 under investigation
Conditional Releases, Arrest of Teachers, and European Parliament Session
- FEBRUARY 10, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Taha Shirazad and Kazem Farajinejad executed in Sari on February 10
FEBRUARY 10, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on day 45 of the protests: 6,984 confirmed fatalities, 11,730 under review
Nighttime Chants and Intensified Police Presence
- FEBRUARY 10, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 7 men executed
Mohammadkaram Jafari, Hadi Momeni, Shahriyar Veysi, Mokhtar Ataei, Bahram Chamani, Biouk Namvarzad, Farhad Karimzadeh
FEBRUARY 10, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Victim Accounts: The Case of Mohammad Jamshidi's Unregistered Body