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
FEBRUARY 16, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 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 PENALTYIRAN - Mokhtar Valizadeh executed in Shiraz on February 13
FEBRUARY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Idris Shahbakhsh executed in Zahedan prison on February 13
- FEBRUARY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mokhtar Valizadeh executed in Shiraz on February 13
FEBRUARY 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mossayeb Faraji executed in Dizelabad 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
FEBRUARY 3, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Najibullah Gorgij executed in Mashhad on February 3
- FEBRUARY 3, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hafizaullah Barahooye executed in Zahedan on February 3
FEBRUARY 2, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unnamed man "recently" executed in Rajai Shahr Prison
Sentenced for murder based on qassameh testimony
- FEBRUARY 2, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Shiraz on February 2
- FEBRUARY 1, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - On unspecified date Mohammad Anbarzehi executed in Shiraz
"in February"
JANUARY 30, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehrdad Karimpou and Farid Mohammadi executed in Maragheh on January 30
On sodomy charges
JANUARY 30, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammadreza Afaridoun executed in Zahedan on January 30
JANUARY 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Kaveh executed in Rasht Prison on January 29
- JANUARY 29, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Nasser Sohrabzehi Executed in Zahedan
JANUARY 27, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mir Soltan Amiri executed in Urmia on January 27
On drug-related charges
- JANUARY 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Brothers Yasser and Younes Nourizadeh Receive Death Penalty
For Drug Offences
- JANUARY 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Ghaneh and Akbar... executed in Shiraz on January 26
JANUARY 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Qarchak Prison, a Nightmare for Women Prisoners
JANUARY 25, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran-HRM year end report
More than 365 prisoners have been executed in 2021 in Iran
JANUARY 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Narges Mohammadi sentenced to eight years imprisonment and 70 lashes
Prominent human rights defender
JANUARY 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Eshagh Mohammadamin executed in Isfahan on January 20
JANUARY 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Zabol on January 20
Parviz Akbari Rud, Jamaleddin Gorgij and Dadshah Sarani