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
- 9,141
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 9,141 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, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Ahvaz e Tabriz
Hossein Ghazlavi, Karim Majdam, Jalil Salamat, and Eskandar Heydarzadeh
SEPTEMBER 22, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdoljalil Bazrkaran executed in Ahvaz on September 22
SEPTEMBER 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hadi Hassanlu hanged in Shiraz on September 20
SEPTEMBER 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Pedaran executed for espionage
15th Execution for Espionage in 2026
SEPTEMBER 18, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Mohammad Mojallal Choubari sentenced to death
A 'protester'
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Strikes on the fourth anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s killing
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report: List of More Than 4,200 People Killed in January 2026 Protests
SEPTEMBER 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nemat Maghami hanged in Ahvaz on September 16
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehrdad Asadi Hanged in Ghezel-Hesar on September 16
SEPTEMBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A woman, Zeinab Rajabi, and Vahid Vafaei executed in Isfahan
SEPTEMBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdolrahim Narouei Rouzaneh executed in Isfahan on September 14
SEPTEMBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdolrahim Narouyi and Houshang Soltani executed in Isfahan
SEPTEMBER 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A woman, Rezvan Asgharzadeh, executed in Isfahan on September 14
SEPTEMBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Farzad Ahmadpour executed in Jiroft on September 13
SEPTEMBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed on September 13
Amanollah Nazarkhani, Hashem Rakhshani, Asghar Pishahang, Mohammad Mousazahi, and Yousef Abil.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khalil Afghan executed in Zahedan on September 13
SEPTEMBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Nazari and Hossein Rasoulinasab sentenced to death
2 ‘Protesters’
SEPTEMBER 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Marziyeh “Sevda” Ebrahimi Shamsabadi sentenced to death
A blogger and political prisoner
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on September 9
Mohammad Yousef Issazahi, Shahrokh Pouresmaeili, and Hossein Ghasemzadeh
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammadreza Neirang Hanged in Yazd on September 9
SEPTEMBER 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ezzat Asgari Khalilshahr executed in Behshahr on September 8
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Mashhad on September 6
Fatemeh Jahangard, Mehrdad Mokhtari, and Mohammadreza Mohammadparast
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Seyed Rasoul Davari executed in Mashhad on September 6
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Rasoul Davari hanged in Mashhad on September 6
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Reza Salimi Hanged in Semnan on September 5
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Aziz Roshanayi executed in Shiraz on September 2
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Mashhad on September 2
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmad Haji-Hassani executed in Gorgan on September 2
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yaser Momeni + 1 executed in Shiraz on September 2
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Valijan Nourzay and Yadollah Shamsi Hanged in Rafsanjan