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
- 9,155
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 9,155 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
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: PRISONER HANGED IN PUBLIC AT FOOTBALL STADIUM
A prisoner sentenced to public execution for rape and murder was hanged in public at a sports stadium in the city of Neyriz (Fars province, southern Iran) in the morning.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: PRISONER EXECUTED ON DRUG RELATED CHARGES
A prisoner who was executed on drug related charges has been identified. 34-year-old Kamran Maleki was
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: THREE PRISONERS HANGED AT SHIRAZ'S ADEL ABAD PRISON
Two prisoners sentenced to death for armed robbery and one prisoner sentenced to death for rape were
SEPTEMBER 11, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: A PRISONER HANGED IN MASHHAD
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), a prisoner from
SEPTEMBER 11, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 17 PRISONERS HANGED AT VAKILABAD PRISON
17 prisoners sentenced to death on drug related charges were reportedly hanged at Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison (Razavi Khorasan province, northwestern Iran).
SEPTEMBER 10, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 7 PRISONERS EXECUTED ON DRUG RELATED CHARGES
Seven prisoners were executed at Bandar Abbas Central Prison (Hormozgan province, southern Iran) on
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: UNIDENTIFIED PRISONER HANGED FOR MURDER
The death sentence for an unidentified 22-year-old prisoner, who was charged with the murder of a
AUGUST 27, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 12 PRISONERS HANGED ON DRUG CHARGES
According to close sources, 12 prisoners were executed in Karaj Central Prison early morning, Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported.
AUGUST 27, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 30 PRISONERS EXECUTED IN THREE DAYS
at least 30 prisoners were executed in Iran between August 25 and 27.
AUGUST 10, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: HANDS OFF CAIN, ITALY MUST NOT EXTRADITE THE BLOGGER KHOSRAVI
Hands Off Cain asks the Italian authorities not to grant extradition in the Islamic Republic of the blogger Mehdi Khosravi, also known as Yashar Parsa, born in Iran, but resident in the United Kingdom as a political refugee, arrested August 7 in Dorio, pr
AUGUST 9, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN HANGS POLITICAL PRISONER MOHAMMAD ABDOLLAHI AND FIVE OTHER PRISONERS
Iran executed political prisoner Mohammad Abdollahi and five other prisoners in a jail in Orumieh (Urmia),
AUGUST 7, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN EXECUTES NUCLEAR SCIENTIST WHO GAVE U.S. INTELLIGENCE ABOUT SECRET NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran confirmed that it has executed an Iranian nuclear scientist who gave the U.S. intelligence about the country's contested nuclear program.
AUGUST 3, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: FOUR HANGED IN SAQQEZ, TAYBAD
Iran's regime hanged four men in two different prisons.
AUGUST 3, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO UNIDENTIFIED PRISONERS HANGED ON UNKNOWN CHARGES
Two unidentified prisoners were reportedly hanged on unknown charges at Choubindar, Qazv
- AUGUST 3, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: TEENAGE STUDENT HANGED IN FIRST CHILD OFFENDER EXECUTION OF THE YEAR
Amnesty International has revealed that a teenager has been executed in Iran after being convicted of the
- AUGUST 2, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: 36 SUNNI KURDS EXECUTED
At least 36 Kurdish Sunni prisoners were hanged at dawn in Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj, the Human Rights
JULY 27, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: SEVEN PRISONERS HANGED IN ONE DAY
Iran's regime hanged a group of six prisoners in a jail in north-western Iran and a seventh prisoner in the north-east of the country.
JULY 26, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 250 EXECUTIONS SO FAR IN 2016
According to a report published by Iran Human Rights (IHR), Iranian authorities have executed at least 250
- JULY 25, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: PUBLIC HANGING OF A MAN IN KERMANSHAH PROVINCE
An unidentified prisoner was hanged in public in Sonqor County (Kermanshah province, northwestern Iran)
JULY 23, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: REGIME HANGS THREE IN PRISON
Iran’s regime hanged three prisoners in a jail in northern Iran.
- JULY 20, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: 10 PRISONERS EXECUTED AT RAJAI SHAHR PRISON IN ONE DAY
A group of ten prisoners were executed at Rajai Shahr Prison (Alborz province, northern Iran), according to sources close to Iran Human Rights (IHR).
JULY 17, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 18 PRISONERS INCLUDING A WOMAN HANGED IN TWO DAYS, TWO IN PUBLIC
Iran hanged 18 prisoners in two days, including two cases in public.
- JULY 13, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: NINE HANGED COLLECTIVELY IN GOHARDASHT PRISON
Iran's fundamentalist regime hanged nine prisoners collectively in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran.
- JUNE 16, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: AT LEAST 3 PRISONERS HANGED AT BANDAR ABBAS CENTRAL PRISON ON DRUG CHARGES
At least three prisoners with drug related charges were reportedly hanged at Bandar Abbas Central Prison
- JUNE 6, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: THREE PRISONERS HANGED IN MASHHAD
three men, aged 30, 35 and 40, who had been sentenced by the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, north-east Iran, were hanged in the central prison of Mashhad, the state-run Rokna website wrote.
- JUNE 5, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
A man identified only as Mojtaba G., who had been convicted of raping and murdering a woman, was
A man identified only as Mojtaba G., who had been convicted of raping and murdering a woman, was
- JUNE 5, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran hanged a 21-year-old man after convicting him of the rape of dozens of women in the historic southern
Iran hanged a 21-year-old man after convicting him of the rape of dozens of women in the historic southern
JUNE 5, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO AFGHANS HANGED - LAWYER CONDUCTED THE EXECUTIONS
According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars, two Afghan prisoners were hanged in a prison in
JUNE 5, 2016IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO PRISONERS PUBLICLY HANGED IN SHIRAZ
Two Iranian men were publicly hanged in Iran's southern city of Shiraz in the morning.
- JUNE 2, 2016IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: MAN AND WOMAN HANGED IN PRISON
Iran’s fundamentalist regime has hanged a man and a woman in a prison in Qazvin, north-west of Tehran.