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
- 9,164
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 9,164 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
NOVEMBER 1, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jalal Mulaii executed in Zanjan on November 1
NOVEMBER 1, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on November 1
Amir Ghoncheh (Ghancheh), Jafar Tourjan (Turjan) and an unidentified man
OCTOBER 27, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified woman executed in Boroujerd on October 27
202nd execution of women in Iran since 2007
- OCTOBER 27, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified woman executed in Borujerd on October 27
202nd execution of women in Iran since 2007
OCTOBER 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Janipour executed in Hamadan on October 25
OCTOBER 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran Protests: At least 234 Including 29 Children Killed
Families and Doctors Pressured to Confirm False Scenarios
OCTOBER 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Valizadeh executed in Hamadan on October 25
OCTOBER 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 500 executed in Iran since the beginning of the year
No other country in the world carries out as many executions
- OCTOBER 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Esfandiari executed in Barazjan on October 24
OCTOBER 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sajjad Zainivandnejad executed in Borujerd on October 23
OCTOBER 22, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Three Baloch prisoners executed on 22 October
Mohammad Zarakzahi in Zabol, and Juma Gumshadzahi and Habil Shahnawazi in Zahedan
- OCTOBER 22, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yousef Faraji executed in Aligudarz on October 22
501 executions since the beginning of 2022
OCTOBER 19, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mansour Ghorbani-Bendarati executed in Isfahan on October 19
- OCTOBER 19, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Sari on October 19
OCTOBER 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Evin Prison: IHR Calls for Urgent UN Mechanism to Prevent Further Atrocities
OCTOBER 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Karimabadi executed in Hamedan on October 16
OCTOBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamed Dehghan Mangabadi executed in Qom, on October 15
OCTOBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Jahangiri executed in Qom on October 15
OCTOBER 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Qarelu executed in Neyshabur on October 15
OCTOBER 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - At least 201 people killed in nationwide protests
Including 23 minors
OCTOBER 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Mohammad Saeedi and Sadegh Afkendeh executed in Zanjan on October 13
OCTOBER 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Over 400 children detained during Iran protests
OCTOBER 11, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - More than 26 minors have been killed in the nationwide uprising
- OCTOBER 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Names of 202 Martyrs of Uprising
Published by National Council of Resistance of Iran
OCTOBER 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - World Day Against the Death Penalty: HRANA Annual Report
Between October 10, 2021, and October 7, 2022, at least 528 executions in Iran
OCTOBER 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - World Day Against Death Penalty, extrajudiciary killings in Iran
OCTOBER 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran Protests: at Least 185 Killed/19 Children Amongst Dead
OCTOBER 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - On the killing of 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh
OCTOBER 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - On the killing of 17-year-old protester Nika Shakarami
OCTOBER 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - On the killing of 16 year old Nima Shafiqdoost