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
- 9,142
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 9,142 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
FEBRUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Seven Gurji ethnic people killed in protests identified
Hananeh Azizi, Mohammad Hassan Ashrafi, Masoud Youseyliani, Mohammad Sepiani, Esmail Aslani, Javad Heydari, Reza Karimi
FEBRUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 15 people hanged on February 4
- FEBRUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 15 people executed on February 3
FEBRUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Medical Staff Testimonies on Killing of Protesters in Hospitals
IHR Calls for an Independent WHO Investigation
FEBRUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 339 executions in January
FEBRUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 38° day of protests: 6,872 confirmed deaths, 11,280 under investigation
FEBRUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men executed in Gorgan on February 3
Naser Shahmoradi, Ahmad Borhani
FEBRUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report: Death of Sina Ashgbousi, 16
- FEBRUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 8 men executed in Qaemshahr from October 2025 to January 2026
Shahab Karami, Nemat Mehraban, Yousef Eini, Azim Nourzad, Noushad Alipour, Meysam Rafiei, Jaber Mohammadi, Shahrouz Hosseini
FEBRUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The killing of Fatemeh Nasiri and Zahra Jafari
- FEBRUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 10 men hanged on February 2
FEBRUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 37th day of protests: 6,854 confirmed deaths, 11,280 under investigation
- FEBRUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 7 men executed in Lahijan from October to December of 2025
Ghorban Rashidi, Kourosh Zamani, Kianoush Rostami, Payam Nouri, Omid Hatami, Samir Ajamloo, Iman Nejati
FEBRUARY 1, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on the 36th day of protests: 6,842 confirmed deaths, 11,280 under review
Government Releases List of Names and State TV Insults Those Killed
FEBRUARY 1, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran releases names of 2,986 killed in unrest
- FEBRUARY 1, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 11 people executed on February 1
Shahriar Farahani, Manoochehr Mehrabi, Nasser Hosseini, Behrouz Hazrati, Fardin Kalami, Mohammadali Moridan, Amin Nasiri, Sajjad Dousti, Peyman Shiri, Hekmat Daryaei, Mostafa Minavand
JANUARY 31, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 35th day of protests (b): 6,713 confirmed deaths, 17,091 under review
Pressure on Medical Staff and Lawyers, Continued Arrests
JANUARY 31, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 11 lawyers arrested
- JANUARY 31, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 11 men executed on January 31
JANUARY 31, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman 2 men executed in Isfahan on January 31
Mahnaz Roshani (W), Mehrdad Siahi, Aref Hashemi
JANUARY 30, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 34th day of protests: 6,563 confirmed deaths, 17,091 under review
JANUARY 30, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 14 Lors killed during protests
In Nurabad between January 8 and 10, 2026
JANUARY 30, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nima Abbasi, a transgender man, killed during protests
JANUARY 30, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A physician couple arrested for treating protesters
Masoud Ebadifard Azari and Parisa Porkar
JANUARY 29, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 33rd day of protests: Arrests, Incommunicado Detention and Unknown Fate of Disappeared
JANUARY 29, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Day 33 of the Protests: 6,479 confirmed deaths, 17,091 still under investigation
EU Designates IRGC as a Terrorist Organization as Repression Persists
JANUARY 29, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sajad Rahimi amongst the killed
- JANUARY 29, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 9 men hanged on January 29
Ardeshir Molaei, Yaser Babakouhi, Golmorad Aghaei, Nosrat Asadi, Hamed Cheraghi, Touraj Nourafkan, Younes Salami, Houshang Khalesi, Soran Ahmadi
JANUARY 29, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - EU Designates Revolutionary Guards As Terrorist Organization
- JANUARY 29, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Morad Azizi and Karim Nazri executed in Taybad on January 29