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
JULY 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Esmail Narouyi and Khaled Paraki executed in Zahedan on July 23
JULY 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Shokat Shehbakhsh executed in Zahedan on July 23
JULY 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Zabol on July 23
Farhad Kouhkan, Davoud Amirzadeh, Hamid Jahangard and Habib Totazehi
JULY 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 executions in Qom Central Prison also known as Langroud Prison
3 on 23 July, one on 9 July
JULY 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Seyyed Sarrajul Haq Siddiqui executed on July 23 in Shiraz prison
JULY 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Sabahi and Mohammad Hossein Hasanipour executed in Shiraz on July 23
JULY 22, 2022BelgiumDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Belgium. Brussels Court suspended the transfer of Assadollah Assadi
JULY 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Execution of 2 men and 1 woman in Yazd prison
137 women executed in Iran since 2013
JULY 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Four inmates executed in Borujerd, Birjand, and Yazd Prisons
On July 11 and 21
JULY 21, 2022BelgiumDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Belgium. Belgium Ratifies Much-Criticized Prisoner Swap Treaty With Iran
- JULY 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Qom on July 20
JULY 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Dariush Khazai and Mahmood Sadeghian executed in Dastgerd Prison on July 20
- JULY 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamed Sarband executed in in Birjand on July 20
JULY 19, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Filmmaker Jafar Panahi to serve 6 years for defending free speech
JULY 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - UNITED NATIONS - Sweden. Javaid Rehman lauded the conviction in Sweden against Hamid Noury
JULY 14, 2022SwedenDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sweden. The Stockholm District Court sentenced Hamid Noury to life
For “serious crimes against international law” and "murder"
JULY 14, 2022TürkiyeDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Instagram Star Milad Hatemi Faces Death Penalty Over Betting Sites
JULY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Farzad Garavand and Mohammad Hatami executed in Karaj on July 13
JULY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohsen Safari and Amirhossein Abadi executed in Isfahan
On June 20 and July 13
JULY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Ilam Prison on July 13
JULY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Asghar Khalili executed in Isfahan on July 13
JULY 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Ch executed in Mashhad on July 12
JULY 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Belgium. Rights Groups Call on Belgium Not To Swap Prisoners With Iran
JULY 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rasoul Moradgholi executed in Sari Prison on July 12
JULY 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sajjad Jamshidi executed in Sari on July 12
JULY 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 'Driven By Fear': Iran Cracks Down On Dissent Amid Rising Public Discontent
- JULY 11, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unnamed man executed in Jolfa Prison
Possibly on July 11
JULY 10, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Political prisoner Naser Fahimi lashed 74 times
At Greater Tehran Penitentiary
JULY 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Keyvan Emamverdi sentenced to death
JULY 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abolfazl Rahmani and Mehrollah Rigi executed in Qom on July 9