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
MAY 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jalaladdin Rahimian-Azar executed in Rasht on May 4
MAY 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 unidentified men executed in Rasht on May 4
- MAY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Rajai Shahr prison on May 3
Not identified
- MAY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Abdolhossein Emamizadeh executed on May 3 in Gohardasht
MAY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Shahin Firouzkouhi and Ali Daftari executed in Qazvin on May 3
MAY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Zarei and Lal Mohammad Shirzayi Barahouyi executed in Minab on May 3
MAY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hanif Khosravi executed in Neishabur on May 3
MAY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Names ot 2 of the 3 unidentified men executed in Gohardasht on May 3
Sirous ... and Behzad ...
- MAY 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mousa and Ehsan Gorgij executed in Bandarabbas on May 2
MAY 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Malek Dadzahi executed in Mashhad on May 2
- MAY 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hossein Vahedi Rigi executed in Mashhad on May 1
MAY 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Aminollah Karimi Ghaljayi executed in Mashhad on May 1
- APRIL 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Gul Mohammad Naroi executed in Zahedan on April 30
APRIL 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Feizollah Kavandi executed in Isfahan on April 30
APRIL 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jaber Aminifar executed in Birjand on April 30
APRIL 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Birjand on April 30
Mrs. Madina Sabzevan, Mohammad Shibak, Abdullah Zarouzhi
- APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified woman executed in Zahedan on April 29
APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Rahmani executed in Iranshahr on April 29
APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Eid Mohammad Shadman executed on April 29
Not clear whether in Iranshahr or Zahedan
APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men executed in Zahedan on April 29
Nematollah Rigi Ladiz and Abdolsattar Shahuzehi
APRIL 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - KHRN annual report on the situation of human rights in Iran
Focused on the Kurdish ethnic group
APRIL 26, 2023GermanyDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jamshid Sharmahd’s death sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court
German-Iranian citizen
APRIL 26, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Plea to Save Ahmadreza Djalali
Iranian-Swedish Scholar in Death Row
APRIL 24, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Chahargosheh executed in Gohardasht on April 24
APRIL 24, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Nikouyi executed in Gohardasht on April 24
APRIL 17, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nayeb Askari sentences to death for second time
Kurdish political prisoner
APRIL 13, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on the Death Penalty in 2022
At least 582 people were executed in 2022 (646 according to HoC)
- APRIL 12, 2023ItalyDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Italy. Press conference in the Italian Parliament for a change in the policy on Iran
Lucio Malan, Giulio Terzi di Santagata, Elisabetta Gardini, Emanuele Pozzolo, Fabrizio Benzoni, Monica Ciaburro, Marco Scurria e Maryam Rajavi
APRIL 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani released from prison
APRIL 7, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester Mojahed Kourkour Sentenced to Death
Cover-up for the state killing of 10 years-old boy Kian Pirfalak