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
- 9,162
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 9,162 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
JANUARY 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Peyman Arab Gicheh executed in Karaj on January 10
JANUARY 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Belgian Olivier Vandecasteele Sentenced to 40 Years
Iranian forcing to get a prisoner exchange
JANUARY 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Karmi executed in Arak on January 10
Already 30 executions since the beginning of the year
JANUARY 10, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Three More Protesters Sentenced To Death
Javad Rouhi, Kimia Javadi and Mehdi Mohammadifar
JANUARY 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nazir Surkh Kaman executed in Roodan prison on January 9
- JANUARY 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mirajan Mohammadi executed in Roodān on January 9
JANUARY 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rashid Lawandpour executed in Karaj on January 9
JANUARY 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khalegh Khizirzadeh executed in Bandar Abbas on January 9
JANUARY 9, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Three More Death Sentences Over Protests
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi
JANUARY 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Pardel Ahmad Khanzahi executed on January 8 in Zahedan
JANUARY 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iranian Arrested In Germany On Suspicion Of Planning Terrorist Attack
JANUARY 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men executed in Kerman on January 8
JANUARY 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Sadaqat executed in Yasouj on January 8
JANUARY 7, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified Woman Executed on January 7 in Karaj
JANUARY 7, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protesters Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini executed
Location not mentioned
- JANUARY 5, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Abolfazl Helvai (Sadatian) executed in Isfahan on January 5
- JANUARY 5, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Another protester sentenced to death
Arshia Takdastan
JANUARY 5, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rostam Abbaszadeh and Mehdi Askari executed in Karaj on January 5
- JANUARY 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Renowned actress, Alidousti, released from prison
On bail
JANUARY 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saadollah Karimi Serini executed in Kermanshah on January 4
JANUARY 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rasoul Mohammadi executed in Karaj on 4 January
JANUARY 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN Farhad (Farah) Karimi executed Kermanshah on January 4
JANUARY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IRGC member gunned down in Tehran
Ghassem Fathollahi
JANUARY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran indicts 2 French nationals, 1 Belgian for espionage
JANUARY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 death sentences of protesters overturned
Hamid Qareh Hasanlou, Hossein Mohammadi and Reza Arya
JANUARY 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester Mansour Dahmardeh sentenced to death
JANUARY 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 623 executions in 2022 in Iran
273 more prisoners executed than last year
- JANUARY 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Clemency in Gen Soleimani’s commemoration
16 death penalty commuted, 3,000 inmates freed
JANUARY 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmed Bachagchi and Azizbeg Hosseini executed in Karaj on January 2
JANUARY 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Mohammadi-Fard, age 18, sentenced to death twice
Arrested at protests on September 30, 2022, in Nowshahr