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
- 8,610
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 8,610 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
- DECEMBER 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Karaj on December 28
DECEMBER 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Davoud Yousefi and Ebrahim Ajali executed in Karaj on December 28
DECEMBER 27, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - At Least 100 Protesters Facing Execution or Death Sentences
476 people killed, including 64 minors and 34 women
- DECEMBER 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Keyhan Shakerpahani executed in Kashan on November 26
DECEMBER 26, 2022ItalyDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iranian Chess Grandmaster Sara Khadem Competes In International Tournament Without Hijab
Arouses the admiration of the Italian Prime Minister Meloni
DECEMBER 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamed Ebrahimi executed in Isfahan on December 26
DECEMBER 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - One of the 2 death sentences of Shakir Behrouz was reversed
A Kurdish political prisoner
DECEMBER 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Soha Etebari, 12, killed by the armed forces of the regime on December 25
- DECEMBER 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hardliner Clerics Demand More Executions, Amputations
DECEMBER 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Elias Raisi and Ayoub Rigi executed in Zahedan on December 24
DECEMBER 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Ghobadlou appeal against the death sentence rejected
DECEMBER 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nizamuddin Burhanzahi executed in Iranshahr on December 23
DECEMBER 22, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdullah Shahozahi executed in Shiraz on December 21
DECEMBER 22, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 unidentified men executed in Shiraz on December 22
628 executions since the beginning of the year
DECEMBER 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hasan Firouzi, arrested during the protests, is in danger of execution
- DECEMBER 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj on December 20
Mehdi Kamrani Far + 2 unknown
- DECEMBER 19, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Riot at Karaj Penitentiary at least one prisoner killed
Mohsen Mansouri, and 17 transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions
DECEMBER 18, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Akbari + unknown executed in Sari on December 18
DECEMBER 17, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Qasim Salarzahi and Aziz Gargij executed on December 17
619 executions in 2022
DECEMBER 17, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Authorities arrested Taraneh Alidoosti
one of the country’s most famous actresses on charges of spreading falsehoods about protests
- DECEMBER 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Tehran Doctor Tortured And Killed For Treating Wounded Protesters
Aida Rostami, also Ayda Rostami
- DECEMBER 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Iran Releases Teen After Mother’s Interview Goes Viral On Social Media
15-year-old Amirhossein Rahimi
DECEMBER 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sonia Sharifi released on bail
Young girl accused of ‘enmity against God’
- DECEMBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hassan Amini and Amir Abbasi executed in Rasht on December 15
- DECEMBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Abolfazl Heidarzadeh executed in Zanjan on December 15
617 executions since the beginning of the year
- DECEMBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammadali Seyedi executed in Qazvin on December 15
DECEMBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sonia Sharifi, 17, charged with ‘waging war on God’
The young protester is at risk of death sentence
DECEMBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Mirza-Beigi executed in Qazvin on 15 December
- DECEMBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmad Shariati executed in Kerman “in mid December”
The news reached the NGOs only on January 27, 2023.
- DECEMBER 14, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Reza Tajik executed in Karaj Central Prison on December 14