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
- 9,161
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 9,161 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 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Haidar Chishti + Unk executed in Torbat-e-Jam on June 11
JUNE 11, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Shahcheraghi and Taher Nouri executed in Shiraz on June 11
JUNE 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeid Nasiri and Masoud Sasani executed in Karaj on June 10
JUNE 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 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 PENALTYIRAN - Malik Baloch Mahani and Kambiz Barzkar executed in Kerman on June 6
JUNE 6, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men executed in Karaj on June 6
Einollah Badri-Nejad + Unk
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
JUNE 1, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rasoul Sheikh Arpanahi and Neemat Arzani executed in Kashan on June 1
- MAY 31, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Gohardasht on May 31
Hossein Rusta, Nader Nouri, Hassan Nourollahi 147 executions in the month of May
MAY 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Narouyi executed on May 30
At the time of writing the location is unknown
MAY 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj on May 30
- MAY 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - EzatAli Sabzi and Mohammad Kazemi executed in Karaj on May 30
MAY 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Raisi Played Direct Role In Executing Prisoners In 80s
MAY 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Woman executed in Mashhad on May 28
Monireh Nourikia is the 212nd woman executed in Iran since 2007
MAY 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdul Rahman Mozafari executed in Sanandaj on May 28
After 16 years on death row
MAY 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jalil Minaei executed in Meshkin Shahr on May 28
MAY 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Soltanian executed in Zahedan on May 27
320 executions this year,more than 2 a day
MAY 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdullah Totazehi executed in Garmsar on May 27
MAY 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Juvenile Offender Hossein Shahbazi at Risk of Execution
Despite Third Postponement
MAY 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Noorullah Taymuri executed in Zahedan on May 27
MAY 27, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Amin Valinia executed in Khorramabad on May 27
MAY 26, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Belgian Government Releases Iranian Diplomat-Terrorist Assadollah Assadi
Controversial Prisoner Swap
MAY 26, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The official position: 'Assadi's release, a personal victory for Raisi's diplomatic initiatives'
MAY 25, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Salari and Mohammad Daraei executed in Jiroft on May 25