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
- JULY 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Karimi executed in Sari Prison on July 6
JULY 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unnamed man executed in Tabriz on July 6
- JULY 5, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed on July 5
- JULY 3, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - More about the June 29 executions in Rajai Shahr
1, maybe 2 gays
- JULY 2, 2022BelgiumDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Belgium. A law in Belgium could lead to the release of Assadi, the Iranian diplomat in prison for planning a terror attack
- JULY 2, 2022BelgiumDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Belgium. Iran Reportedly Holds Two Belgians As Brussels Plans Prisoner Swap
JULY 2, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rahmat Valinejad executed in Zabol on July 2
- JUNE 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 10 inmates executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on June 29
Iman Safari-rad, Mehdi Khlagaldi and 8 yet not identified
JUNE 27, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nasrollah Iliad and an identified man executed in Karaj on June 27
JUNE 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Sanjari executed in Jiroft on June 26
- JUNE 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jilan Nourzehi executed in Kerman on June 23
JUNE 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran’s Human Rights in the UN Secretary-General’s Report
JUNE 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran slams UN for 'unjust, biased' human rights report
It is the iranian usual reaction to international criticism
JUNE 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdulrashid Sahneh executed in Gorgan on June 20
JUNE 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Firuz Musalou secretly executed in Urmia Prison on June 20
JUNE 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdol Latif Moradi executed in Mashhad on June 20
JUNE 19, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rasoul Khosravi-Baboli and Gholam Eslami executed in Shiraz on June 19
- JUNE 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN Ali Ranjbar executed in Bandarabbas on June 15
- JUNE 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Shah Gholam Kanjourian executed in Babol on June 16
JUNE 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohsen Norouzi executed in Rasht on June 16
JUNE 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 8 men executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on June 15
At least 56 people executed in the last two weeks
JUNE 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Four more men executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on June 15
Abbas Eskandarzadeh, Amir Jafari, Jamshid Akbari and Avaz Mohammadi
- JUNE 14, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 5 men executed in Shiraz on June 12
- JUNE 14, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Kiani executed in Dieselabad Prison in Kermanshah on June 12
- JUNE 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Four men executed in Zabol Prison on June 11
JUNE 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Hijwan executed in Jiroft on June 13
JUNE 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Vali Mohammad Rigi executed in Zahedan on June 13
JUNE 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Kiani Dehkiani executed in Kermanshah on June 12
JUNE 11, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Touraj Keshavarz and Ali Samandarnejad executed in Zanjan on June 11
JUNE 10, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ghlich Shokouhi and Vahid Behmaram executed in Urmia on June 10