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
OCTOBER 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Navid Mahdipour executed in Shiraz on October 21
- OCTOBER 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mobarak Mohammadi and Ghasem Molla Amini executed in Isfahan on October 21
OCTOBER 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdullah Naroui executed in Mashhad on October 20
OCTOBER 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 143rd Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
- OCTOBER 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Isa Narouei (Lakzehi) executed in Mashhad on October 20
OCTOBER 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammadreza Salehzadeh executed in Gorgan on October 6
OCTOBER 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamid Mohammadi executed in Bandar Abbas on October 19
OCTOBER 18, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Farhadi executed in Tabriz on October 18
OCTOBER 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Darzadehpour executed in Zahedan on October 17
OCTOBER 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Homayoun Shabankareh sentenced to death
On espionage charges
- OCTOBER 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmad Parviz and Farid executed in Ghezel-Hesar on October 16
OCTOBER 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Varisheh Moradi Resentenced to Death at Retrial
Kurdish Political Prisoner
OCTOBER 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Rajabian executed in Shirvan on October 15
- OCTOBER 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mokhtar Abdollahnejad executed in Yazd on October 15
OCTOBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Esmaeil Khalili Baseri executed in Shiraz on October 11
OCTOBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Sina Mostafavi Executed in Kerman on October 14
- OCTOBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Milad Darvishi executed in Arak on October 14
- OCTOBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Habib Rakhmeshah executed in Gorgan on October 14
- OCTOBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Asghar Sanei executed in Shahroud on October 14
- OCTOBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hassan Kavian executed in Shahroud on October 14
- OCTOBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - “Mehrshad” and “Farid” executed in Ghezel-Hesar on October 14
OCTOBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Tabriz on January October 13
OCTOBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death Sentence of Amirhassan Akbari-Monfared Upheld
A political prisoner
OCTOBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abolhassan Ranjbar executed in Minab on October 13
OCTOBER 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Omar Derastaran Hanged in Zahedan on October 12
OCTOBER 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amin Khajeh-Nezami and Habibollah Ghanbarzehi Farjad executed in Kerman on October 12
OCTOBER 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Mirzaei Executed in Hamedan on October 12
- OCTOBER 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Masoud Khodayari and Behnam Mozaffarzadeh executed in Rasht on October 12
- OCTOBER 11, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ayoub Mohammad Nabil executed in Rasht on October 11
OCTOBER 11, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Danial Jahanian executed in Bandarabbas on October 11
A man wrongfully convicted of murder