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 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Four killed during protests in Razavi Khorasan
Mohammad-Amin Hosseini, Sajad Ordouni Kabir, Mousa al-Reza Akbari e Abolfazl Paydar
JANUARY 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Ali Jalilian killed on January 9
JANUARY 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN Iran-HRS Year End Report: 2228 executions
The Bloodiest Year in the Past Four Decades
JANUARY 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on the 13th day of protests
65 killed, 2,311 arrested
JANUARY 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Zatparvar, athlete from Rasht, killed by direct gunfire
JANUARY 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Javad Ganji killed during the protests
JANUARY 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Wncri Report on 13th day of protests
54 slain protesters
JANUARY 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 13th day of protests
Death Toll Rises to at Least 51
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mansoureh Heidari and her husband Behrouz Mansouri killed
By Iranian forces in Bushehr
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jamilollah Shahi and Mohammad Ashraf executed in Taybad on January 8
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ariana Arjmandi shot dead in Borujerd
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 18-year-old Zahra Bohlouli Pour killed in Tehran
Student of Italian Language at the University of Tehran
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 killed in Tehran on January 8
Saeed Shirali, Alireza Salmani, Babak Sadeghi Mohseni, Ali Molaaqaei Rouzbehani, Ali Janani
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed on January 8
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khaled Mollaei and Mohammad Mohammadlou killed during the protests
- JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 8 men executed on January 8
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - At least five Kurdish men shot dead by Iranian forces in Kermanshah protests
Keyvan Rezaei, Yasin Mirzaei, Behrouz Safaei, Saman Nazari, Sayyad Faramarzi
- JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Report on 12th day of protests
At Least 45 protesters killed, including 8 Children
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ebrahim Yousefi killed by direct gunfire
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iranian forces killed Robina Aminian during protests
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on the 12th Day of Protests
The death toll has reached 42 people, including 5 minors and 8 security personnel
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Aida Heidari and Zahra Behloulipour killed during protests
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ako Mohammadi killed during the protests
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mojtaba Ghorbani and Bahram Zahedi killed during the protests
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR report on 8th day of protests
45 killed
JANUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Navid Salehi and Bayat Sobhani killed during protests
JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Qazvin on January 7
Hessam Moloudnejad, Alireza Yadegar + 2
- JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sharif Hadavi executed in Mahshahr on January 7
- JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 9 men 1 woman executed on January 7
2nd woman of 2026
JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iranian forces shoot dead Reza Rahmati in Malard