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
- DECEMBER 12, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hashem Amiri executed in Gorgan Prison on December 12
For murder
DECEMBER 11, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sivan Hosseini executed in Sanandaj on December 11
For murder
DECEMBER 9, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Three (unidentified) women hanged in Kerman on December 9
The number of women executed in Iran since 2013 reaches 127.
DECEMBER 9, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ibrahim Sistani executed in Kerman Central Prison on December 9
Iran has executed more than 60 Baloch since the beginning of 2021
DECEMBER 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Akbar Mohammadi executed in Neyshabour Prison on December 6
Maybe 18 at the time of crime
DECEMBER 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Tavakoli executed in Shiraz Prison on December 6
At least 110 prisoners executed on drug charges in Iranian prisons in 2021
DECEMBER 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohmmadreza Mazkouhi executed in Zanjan on December 6
For drugs
DECEMBER 5, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - November 2019 Protester Abbas Daris Sentenced to Death
And Brother Mohsen to Life Imprisonment
NOVEMBER 28, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ebrahim Narouyi executed in Mashhad on November 28
For drugs
- NOVEMBER 27, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Majid Sargolzayi executed in Zahedan on November 27
For drugs
- NOVEMBER 25, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Abdolsattar Shehbakhsh and Khan Mohmmad Rahmatzehi executed in Kerman on November 25
On drug-related charges
NOVEMBER 25, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A woman, Maryam Khakpour, executed in Isfahan Central Prison on November 25
NOVEMBER 25, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Heidar Ghaljayi executed Kerman Central Prison on November 25
For drugs
NOVEMBER 25, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - UN human rights experts condemned the execution of Arman Abdolali
Over 85 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran
- NOVEMBER 24, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Safari executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on November 24
For murder
NOVEMBER 24, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Juvenile offender Arman Abdolali executed
In Rajai Shahr Prison on November 24
NOVEMBER 24, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Juvenile Offender Arman Abdolali Buried in Tehran
- NOVEMBER 23, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unnamed couple executed in Yasuj
For murder
- NOVEMBER 22, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Over 9700 girls 10-14 married in Iran in spring 2021
In Iran, 100 marriages of children under 15 are registered every 24 hours
- NOVEMBER 18, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mostafa Pourahmad and Mojtaba Bagheri executed in Rasht on November 18
Both sentenced for murder
- NOVEMBER 18, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Shamsedin Ghaljayi executed in Kerman on November 18
For drug-related offences
- NOVEMBER 17, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sobhan Molayi executed in Qazvin on November 17
For murder
- NOVEMBER 17, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Rahmat Fereydouni executed in Qom on November 17
For murder
NOVEMBER 17, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN -UN Third Committee resolution censures serious rights abuses in Iran
- NOVEMBER 14, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Marouf Gholipour executed in Shiraz on November 14
For murder
- NOVEMBER 13, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Four men executed in Zahedan on November 13
At least 100 prisoners executed on drug-related charges in Iran in 2021
- NOVEMBER 10, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmad Bahrami executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on November 10
For murder
- NOVEMBER 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Couple sentenced to death for adultery
It is unclear whether it is a homosexual couple
NOVEMBER 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yasser Gargij executed in Zahedan Prison on November 6
96, including a woman, executed on drug-related charges in Irani in 2021
NOVEMBER 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Makrandoust executed in Zahedan Prison
For drug-related offences