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
NOVEMBER 25, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - UN human rights experts condemned the execution of Arman Abdolali
Over 85 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran
NOVEMBER 25, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdolsattar Shehbakhsh and Khan Mohmmad Rahmatzehi executed in Kerman on November 25
On drug-related charges
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 24, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Safari executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on November 24
For murder
NOVEMBER 23, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 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 PENALTYIRAN - Shamsedin Ghaljayi executed in Kerman on November 18
For drug-related offences
NOVEMBER 18, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Pourahmad and Mojtaba Bagheri executed in Rasht on November 18
Both sentenced for murder
NOVEMBER 17, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN -UN Third Committee resolution censures serious rights abuses in Iran
NOVEMBER 17, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sobhan Molayi executed in Qazvin on November 17
For murder
NOVEMBER 17, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rahmat Fereydouni executed in Qom on November 17
For murder
NOVEMBER 14, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Marouf Gholipour executed in Shiraz on November 14
For murder
NOVEMBER 13, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Four men executed in Zahedan on November 13
At least 100 prisoners executed on drug-related charges in Iran in 2021
NOVEMBER 10, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Bahrami executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on November 10
For murder
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
NOVEMBER 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Couple sentenced to death for adultery
It is unclear whether it is a homosexual couple
- NOVEMBER 5, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Kamran Rezaiefar Sentenced to Death
Charged of “association with The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK)
- NOVEMBER 4, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed … executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on November 4
For murder
NOVEMBER 4, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammadali Alizadeh executed in Zahedan on 4 November 2021
The news was reported by IHR on January 2, 2022
NOVEMBER 3, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Juvenile offender Arman Abdolali’s execution postponed for the fifth time
He is still at imminent risk of execution
NOVEMBER 3, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdullah … executed in Mashhad Prison on November 3
For murder
NOVEMBER 3, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Manouchehr Kazemi-Varmaleh executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on November 3
For murder
NOVEMBER 3, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Javad Ghaljayi executed in Zahedan Prison on November 3
For murder
NOVEMBER 2, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Eghbal-Raisi executed in Shiraz Prison on November 2
For murder
OCTOBER 27, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Susan Rezaiipour hanged in Qazvin on October 27
The 122nd woman executed since 2013
OCTOBER 21, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nazarnaz Ghanbarzehi Executed in Zahedan on October 21
For drug crimes
OCTOBER 20, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified man executed in Karaj Prison on October 20
- OCTOBER 19, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Zakaria Baluch executed in Zahedan Prison on October 19
On drug-related charges