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
JUNE 10, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ayub Lotfi executed on June 10 in Diezelabad prison
- JUNE 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yousef Beigi executed in Kermanshah on June 9
JUNE 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Baba Sabzi executed in Kermanshah on June 9
JUNE 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Javad Amini executed in Amol Prison on June 9
- JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sajad Takrouy and Hojat Asiabani executed in Ardabil on June 8
- JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Khosro Tarek and Kamal Bayanirad executed in Ilam on June 8
- JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammadreza Narouyi-Ghazagh executed in Birjand on June 8
JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Asghar Habibi executed in Khalkhal on June 8
JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sattar Arghandeh executed in Ilam on June 8
- JUNE 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Death sentence against man who killed 2 clerics
JUNE 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Noor Ahmad Barangahzai executed in Isfahan on June 7
203 executions this year
JUNE 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Amouri, and Qadir Naseri executed in Ahvaz on June 7
- JUNE 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Six men executed in Gorgan Prison on June 6
JUNE 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Appeals Court upholds 16-year sentence against Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi
JUNE 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 11 men and 1 woman executed in Zahedan Prison on June 6, 2022
- JUNE 2, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ebrahim Karimi executed in Rasht on June 2
JUNE 2, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Behnam Khanjani and Farhad Ramezanian executed in Rasht on June 2
JUNE 1, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unnamed man executed by own his own son on June 1
MAY 31, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Allah Nazar Esmailzehi executed in Damghan Prison on May 31
183 executions in 2022
MAY 31, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Faraji executed in Isfahan on May 31
MAY 31, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ayoub Latifi executed in Kermanshah on May 31
MAY 31, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Amiri-Margavi executed in Sari Prison on May 31
The news was released on July 5 by IHR
- MAY 30, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Saveh
Exact place and date of execution unknown
- MAY 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Sarhadi executed in Isfahan on May 29
- MAY 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Shahab … executed in Mashhad Central Prison on May 29
MAY 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified man executed in Karaj on May 29
MAY 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Akbar Hassanlou executed in Zanjan on May 29
MAY 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamidollah Sahrai executed in Chabahar on May 28
MAY 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nader Gorgij executed in Zabol Prison on May 28
179 executions since the beginning of the year
- MAY 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ladan Molasaeedi, a woman, executed in Qarchak on May 25
Fifth woman to be executed in 2022