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
- 9,142
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 9,142 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
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 12 men executed on January 21
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 25th day of protests
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Eight women killed during protests in Isfahan, Kermanshah, and Gilan
Melika Dastiyab, Elham Zeinali, Taybeh Rezaei, Parisa Taghibi, Zahra Mahmoudpour, Fatemeh Tabibi, Niloufar Masoudi
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of six more people killed in Kermanshah
Farhad Balashzar, Saeed Kahrari, Farzad Khirdar, Mohammadamin Salami, Meysam Karani, Seyed Arman Mousavi
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 25th day of protests: 4,902 confirmed fatalities, 9,387 under review
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of 8 killed in Islam-Abad-e Gharb
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 killed in Bandar Abbas protests
Esmail Ghalandarzehi, Seyed Ahmad Kazemi, Mehrshad Ragbar, Mohammad-Amin Khatam
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 8 killed in Isfahan
Mohammadreza Ghorbani, Mehrdad Rihani, Mohammad-Hossein Mousavi, Ali Pouladastoun, Hamid Faqih, Morteza Shahzidi, Hadi Havayi, Hamid Ganji
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of 3 killed in Golestan Province
Reza Asadi, Safa Farzanfar, Kianoush Mirghasemi
JANUARY 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed on January 20
Mikaeil Bahari, Kamran Ghiasvand, Foroud Sagvand, Mardan Saeedi
- JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - IHR Report on 24th day of protests
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 13 men executed on January 19 and 20
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - HRANA Report on 24th day of protests: 4,519 confirmed deaths, 9,049 deaths still under investigation, 26.000 arrested
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Mohammad Karami and Saman Gerami killed in Fars Province
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Tarvand killed in Abadan
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 killed in Isfahan
Mohammadreza Davashi Bakhtiari, Farshid Moradi, Ahmadreza Golkhani, Naser Mohedenia, Milad Koochaki
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Two women among five killed in Kermanshah
Melika Dastyab, Elham Zeinali, Hassan Fallahi, Elham Zeinali, Reza Darvishi, Mohammad Mehdi Badri
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Soldier sentenced to death for refusing to shoot protesters
Javid Khales
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 students killed
Amirali Zarei, Alireza Rafiei-Rad, Ali Zanganeh
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identification of 6 victims in Tehran
Mani Safarpour, Alireza Rahimi, Amirhossein Sohrabi, Erfan Abdipour, Omid Fadakar, and Mohammad Nobakht
JANUARY 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of five more Killed in Tehran
Meysam Khazaei, Shahrouz Mehrabi, Mohammadreza Avazpour, Majid Jalilian, Yashar Soltanirad
- JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on January 6
Khodadad Mozafari, Ali Bahman and Hamid Jahangiri
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on the 22nd day of protests. 3,685 protesters killed
8,949 additional deaths are still under investigation
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jalil Milanouyi and Hossein Zabihzadeh killed during the protests
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 23rd day of protests: 3,428 protesters confirmed killed
The real number could be between 5,000 and 20,000
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 23rd day of protests: 4,029 confirmed fatalities, 9,049 fatalities under review
Internet Blackout, Media Clampdown, and Cancellation of Davos Invitation
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 7 victims identified
Mohammad Jafarpoor, Amir Nadafi, Hamid Shahin, Masoud Faghihzadeh, Mohammad Ranjbar, Mehrad Sadeghi, Pezhman Amini
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Eight Gilaks among newly identified protest victims
Eshaq Qanbarnia, Abbas Arezu, Arash Hassani, Milad Mianehkhah, Emad Shoush, Erfan Azordeh, Omid Norouzi, Parsa Abyazi
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Three Kurds, including a 16-year-old, shot dead during protests
Mohammadreza Abdolrahmanzadeh, Yasin Elahi, Meysam Nazar
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Seven more women identified among those killed
Maedeh Moradikya, Arezu Abedi, Ghazal Aghaei Lindi, Farzaneh Tavakoli, Mona Hosseini, Sonia Salehirad, Nastaran Zaremanesh