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
DECEMBER 30, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Stories of 5 men sentenced to death for alleged crimes linked to anti-regime protests
Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Hossein Mohammadi, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, Reza Arya.
DECEMBER 29, 2022ItalyDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran summons Italian ambassador over protests solidarity
DECEMBER 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iranian author sentenced to death
For urging peace in Israel TV interview
DECEMBER 29, 2022ItalyDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Italian PM Meloni Says Repression Of Protesters In Iran ‘Unbearable’
DECEMBER 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamidreza and Mohsen Nejati executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on December 28
DECEMBER 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Davoud Rahmatali executed in Shiraz on December 28
645 executions since the beginning of the year
- 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 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN – Italy. Italy urges Iran to stop executions and open dialogue with protesters
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 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Mirzavand executed in Dezful on December 26
Mirzavand was 16 years old at the time arrest
DECEMBER 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Soha Etebari, 12, killed by the armed forces of the regime on December 25
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 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hardliner Clerics Demand More Executions, Amputations
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 PENALTYIRAN - Sonia Sharifi released on bail
Young girl accused of ‘enmity against God’
DECEMBER 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran Releases Teen After Mother’s Interview Goes Viral On Social Media
15-year-old Amirhossein Rahimi