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 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 21st day of protests: 3,097 protesters killed
Islamic Republic’s Leader Acknowledges “Thousands Killed” as Internet Shutdown Continues
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kamran Akbari killed during protests in Kermanshah
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 21st day of protests: 3,428 protesters killed
It is estimated that thousands of protesters have been killed on 8 and 9 January
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kheirullah Goljani and Kamran Manafi executed in Qazvin on January 17
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN Hrana report on 20th day of protests: 3,090 deaths confirmed
Another 3,880 cases are under scrutiny
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Six more women, one pregnant, killed in Iran’s crackdown
Sholeh Sotoudeh, Sara Behboodi, Ziba Dastjerdi, Zahra Bagheri, Sanam Pourbabayi, Aida Aghili
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Seven more minors killed in Iran protests
Amir Mohammad Arbabpouri, Melina Asadi, Sam Afshari, Abolfazl Heydari-Moslou, Mohammad Ghasem-Rousta, Mehrab Golestani, Amir Salar Bahmaninejad
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Identities of six more people killed in Tehran protests verified
Behnam Darvish, Mehrdad Yaghoubi Mehr, Ali Behroozdoust, Hossein Naseri, Masoud Bolourchi, Ahmad Abbasi
JANUARY 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 10 men killed during protests identified
Aria Alidoust, Fardin Ghanbari, Mohammad Ebrahimi, Meysam Yaghoubi, Mohammad Honarkhah, Behzad Shafiei, as well as Meysam Khazini, Yadollah Heydari, Seyed Abolfazl Kia, Saeed Golsorkhi
- JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Family of 3 killed in Karaj on January 9
Bijan Mostafavi, Zahra Bani-Amerian, Danial Mostafavi
JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 20th day of protests: 3,428 protester killed
JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 52 executions between January 5 to 14
On murder and drug charges
JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 46 NGOs urge UN Rights Council to hold emergency session
JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sirwan Aminpour, political asylum seeker, arrested in Norway and faces deportation to Iran
JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Soran Feyzizadeh killed under torture in Bijar
JANUARY 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 women killed during protests identified
Semin Rostami, Samaneh Mirzaei, Shabnam Ferdowsi, Zahra Fazeli
- JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Canadian Citizen Killed During Protests
- JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hengaw Report: 5 killed, including two women, in Tehran protests
Golaleh Mahmoudi Azar Zahra Moradi, Siavash Shirzad, Erfan Alizadeh, Ali Abbasi
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Judiciary: Erfan Soltani not sentenced to death
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Trump Says Iran Halts Executions But Doesn't Rule Out Military Action
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Roberta Metsola Calls for Blacklisting the IRGC
President of the European Parliament
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 19th day of Protests: 2,677 dead
Emergency UN Security Council Meeting and Continued Nationwide Internet Shutdown
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 19th day of protests: 3,428 dead
Systematic Killings and Violent Suppression: De Facto Martial Law
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Five women, one aged 15, killed during protests in Iran
Arnika Dabbagh, Nasim Pouraqaei, Sahba Rashtian, Mobina Beheshti e Nazli JanparvarArnika Dabbagh, Nasim Pouraqaei, Sahba Rashtian, Mobina Beheshti e Nazli Janparvar
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 21 men and 1 woman executed between January 12 to 15
147 executions for ordinary offences in the first 15 days of the year
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 13 more Kurdish protesters confirmed killed
Golaleh Mahmoudi-Azar, Zahra Moradi, Erfan Alizadeh, Pouya Rostami, Keyvan Rezaei, Hossein Shirkoul, Siavash Shirzad, Rebin Moradi, Ardeshir Zarei, Ali Abbasi, Seyyed Milad Hosseini, Mohammad Seydi, Amir-Ali Jalilian
JANUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ten people, including two women, killed by direct fire from government forces
Negin Ghadimi, Parnia Shad Bejarkanari, Meysam Zarei Bejarkanari, Mehdi Saheli, Amir Heidardoost, Mehdi Ghadimi, Saeed Mirzaei, Ebrahim Ghioumi, Payam Babo Kuhestani, Abbas Khadem
JANUARY 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report - Day 18 of Protests: at Least 3,428 Protesters Killed
JANUARY 14, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report - 18th day of protests: 2,615 dead, 18,470 arrested
- JANUARY 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - IHR Report - At Least 734 Protesters Killed