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
- 9,218
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 9,218 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 28, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Rouhi and Amir Hossein Tavakoli Zanyani executed on January 28
- JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Taher Malekshahi, a 12-year-old boy, lost one eye
After being intentionally shot in the face
JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hengaw's special report on the massacre at Rasht Bazaar.
JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Dr. Alireza Golchini arrested for treating injured protesters
Charged with “waging war against God”
JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehrdad Yaghoubi-Mehr killed in Tehran on 8 January
JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 9 people executed on January 27
Karim Enhesari, Mehran Akhbari, Mehdi Balali, Abbas Karami, Ghobad Fathi, Mojtaba Azizi, Sanjar Dolat-Rashid, Khodakaram Moradi, and Rajabali Nourzad
JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abolfazl Beig Mohammadi and Javad Haghighat Hanged in Zanjan on January 27
JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 31st day of protests: 6,221 confirmed deaths, 17,091 under investigation
JANUARY 27, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 105th week of the ‘No to Execution Tuesdays’ campaign
JANUARY 26, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - At least 150 Women Transferred to Shiraz Prison
Arrested in the nationwide protests
JANUARY 26, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Doctor Ameneh Soleimani Arrested for Treating Protesters
- JANUARY 26, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 10 men executed on January 26
JANUARY 26, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 30th day of protests: 6,126 confirmed deaths, 17,091 under investigation
JANUARY 26, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIIRAN - Shehla Kakaei shot dead during protests, husband commits suicide
JANUARY 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report: Hundreds killed during protests in Rasht
JANUARY 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 29th day of protests: 5,848 confirmed deaths, 17,091 still under investigation
Total arrests have reached 41,283
JANUARY 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Names of 78 women killed in January 2026 Uprising
- JANUARY 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 21 men executed in various prisons
Between January 8 and 25
JANUARY 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Leila Judaki Hanged in Qom on January 25
5th woman executed in Iran in January 2026
JANUARY 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Crackdown on Health Personnel
For Treating Injured Protesters
JANUARY 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 28th day of protests: 5,459 confirmed fatalities, 17,031 deaths currently under investigation
JANUARY 24, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hengaw Special Report: protest crackdown amounts to crimes against humanity
At least 3,000 civilians and protesters were killed. Hengaw estimates that approximately 500 members of government security forces were also killed
JANUARY 24, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of 14 more individuals killed in Gilan and Mazandaran confirmed
- JANUARY 24, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amanch Karavanchi and Arsalan Sheikhi executed in Ghezel-Hesar on January 24
Kurdish prisoners of conscience
JANUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 27th day of protests: 5,137 confirmed deaths, 12,904 still under investigation
JANUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - “Bullet Fees”
The regime demands large fees from families to release the bodies of the victims
JANUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of 12 Kurdish killed in Kermanshah
Nazanin Zahra Salehi, Mohammad Matin Bagheri, Farhad Nazari Gorajouei, Hassan Nouri, Hamidreza Yousefi, Pedram Argha, Farhad Cheraghi, Sayad Faramarzi, Behrouz Narimanimehr, Amirali Abbasifar, Gholamhossein Ahadi, Alireza Eftekhari
JANUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of 11 killed in Markazi Province
Ahmad Hashemi, Matin Moshtaghi, Iman Behdari, Saeed Taqvaei, Abolfazl Beikmohammadi, Mohammadreza Najafi, Jaber Salehi, Hassan Ghaderi, Mohammad Ranjbar, Mohammad Soltanifar, Behnam Kashani
JANUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of 2 killed in Ilam
Milad Sademiri, Mehdi Ghanbari
JANUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of ten women killed
Sona Yekta, Mohana Dokoshkani, Setayesh Sousanabadi, Nahayat Rahimi Dashti, Jamileh Shafiei, Hajar Eshaqi, Faeezeh Mostaan, Zahra Azadpour, Fatemeh Abdollahi, Shokoufeh Abdi