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
JUNE 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Shah Gholam Kanjourian executed in Babol on June 16
JUNE 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 8 men executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on June 15
At least 56 people executed in the last two weeks
JUNE 15, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Four more men executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on June 15
Abbas Eskandarzadeh, Amir Jafari, Jamshid Akbari and Avaz Mohammadi
JUNE 14, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Kiani executed in Dieselabad Prison in Kermanshah on June 12
JUNE 14, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Shiraz on June 12
JUNE 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Hijwan executed in Jiroft on June 13
JUNE 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Vali Mohammad Rigi executed in Zahedan on June 13
JUNE 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Four men executed in Zabol Prison on June 11
JUNE 12, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Kiani Dehkiani executed in Kermanshah on June 12
JUNE 11, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Touraj Keshavarz and Ali Samandarnejad executed in Zanjan on June 11
JUNE 10, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ghlich Shokouhi and Vahid Behmaram executed in Urmia on June 10
JUNE 10, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ayub Lotfi executed on June 10 in Diezelabad prison
JUNE 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Baba Sabzi executed in Kermanshah on June 9
JUNE 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Javad Amini executed in Amol Prison on June 9
JUNE 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Beigi executed in Kermanshah on June 9
JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Asghar Habibi executed in Khalkhal on June 8
JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sattar Arghandeh executed in Ilam on June 8
JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sajad Takrouy and Hojat Asiabani executed in Ardabil on June 8
JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammadreza Narouyi-Ghazagh executed in Birjand on June 8
JUNE 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khosro Tarek and Kamal Bayanirad executed in Ilam on June 8
JUNE 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Noor Ahmad Barangahzai executed in Isfahan on June 7
203 executions this year
JUNE 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Amouri, and Qadir Naseri executed in Ahvaz on June 7
JUNE 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentence against man who killed 2 clerics
JUNE 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Appeals Court upholds 16-year sentence against Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi
JUNE 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 11 men and 1 woman executed in Zahedan Prison on June 6, 2022
JUNE 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Six men executed in Gorgan Prison on June 6
JUNE 2, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Behnam Khanjani and Farhad Ramezanian executed in Rasht on June 2
JUNE 2, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ebrahim Karimi executed in Rasht on June 2
JUNE 1, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unnamed man executed by own his own son on June 1
MAY 31, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Allah Nazar Esmailzehi executed in Damghan Prison on May 31
183 executions in 2022