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
MARCH 1, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - On unspecified date Mohammad Reza Heidari executed in Shiraz
"first week of March"
- FEBRUARY 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Morad Salehbeig received 74 lashes prior to being executed in Zanjan on February 28
(also Salehbeyg, Saleh-Beyg)
FEBRUARY 28, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Juvenile offender Mohammadreza Hadadi released
(Also Mohammad-Reza Haddadi)
- FEBRUARY 27, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Heydar Ghorbani executed in Khorramabad on February 27
- FEBRUARY 27, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jasem Ghanbari executed in Jiroft on February 27
- FEBRUARY 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Execution Postponed After Heart Attack
Hojat Ostad-Asyabi suffered a heart attack at the gallows in Ardabil Prison on February 26
- FEBRUARY 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - On February 24, Ali Rezaei, 18, sentenced to death, committed suicide
In Lakan Prison, in Rasht
- FEBRUARY 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 5 Men Executed for Murder in Rajai Shahr Prison
Hamed Azizi, Mehran Jafari, and 3 unidentified men
- FEBRUARY 22, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Farshad Farzi (Farzin) executed in Ilam on February 22
FEBRUARY 22, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mousa Zare executed in Isfahan Prison on February 22
The news was reported on March 10 by IHR
- FEBRUARY 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified prisoner executed in Mashhad on February 21
- FEBRUARY 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 prisoners died of Coronavirus in Karaj Prison, 1 in Ilam
- FEBRUARY 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Reza Gh. Executed in Mashhad on February 21
- FEBRUARY 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified Man Executed in Kashan Prison on February 21
- FEBRUARY 19, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamed Kheradmand Executed in Zahedan on February 19
- FEBRUARY 18, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Official Decries EP’s Resolution on Death Penalty in Iran
Kazem Gharibabadi, the secretary-general of Iran’s Human Rights Office
FEBRUARY 17, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - On February 17, European Parliament adopted a resolution in Iran
On the human rights situation
- FEBRUARY 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Kazem Yousefi Executed in Isfahan on February 16
FEBRUARY 14, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Juvenile offender Mohammadreza Hadadi’s conviction overturned
19 years on death row
- FEBRUARY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mokhtar Valizadeh executed in Shiraz on February 13
- FEBRUARY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mossayeb Faraji executed in Dizelabad Prison on February 13
FEBRUARY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mokhtar Valizadeh executed in Shiraz on February 13
FEBRUARY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Idris Shahbakhsh executed in Zahedan prison on February 13
FEBRUARY 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mosayeb Faraji executed in Dizelabad on February 12
FEBRUARY 10, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Javaid Rehman’s new report on human rights situation in Iran
The Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran
FEBRUARY 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mirza Rouhifar executed in Aligoudarz Prison on February 7
FEBRUARY 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Tahmatan and Behzad Tahmatan executed in Ardabil on February 6
- FEBRUARY 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Babak Rezaei wrongly executed in 2018
For murders Behzad Tahmtan received the death penalty for
FEBRUARY 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran Atrocities Tribunal Charges 160 Officials With Crimes Against Humanity
Also known as Aban Tribunal
FEBRUARY 5, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khatoun Hamidi hanged in Qazvin on February 5