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
JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Karim Bozorgkar and Mohammad Jolaei executed in Dezful on January 7
- JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Kaveh Panahi and Ali Neirang executed in Yazd on January 7
JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Ardastani executed on January 7
On charges of spying for Israel
JANUARY 7, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Ghezel-Hesar on January 7
Yazdan Allahyari, Hamed Niazi, Omid Nobakht
- JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 7 men executed in various prisons on January 6
- JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Abdollah Dashti executed in Behbahan on January 6
- JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohsen Teymouri executed in Rasht on January 6
- JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Ahvaz on January 6
Moslem Haji Babayi, Mohammad Yarahzadeh, Abdolnour Shabani
- JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Majid Madadi executed in Ferdows on January 6
- JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Rouhollah Aghapour executed in Mahabad on January 6
JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protests: Hengaw confirms at least 27 deaths in ten days
More than 1,500 arrests
JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana: 2,063 people executed in Iran in 2025
JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Hamzeh Palangi executed in Kerman on January 6
JANUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on the 10th Day of Protests: 36 Dead in 285 Demonstrations
JANUARY 5, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Karim Asgari and Tayebeh Hekmat executed in Zanjan on January 5
Hekmat is the first woman executed in 2026
JANUARY 5, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on the 9th Day of Protests
More Than 1,200 Protesters Arrested, 29 killed
- JANUARY 5, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali-Bakhsh Khanmohammadi executed in Bukan on January 5
- JANUARY 5, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Rostam Hariri executed in Semnan on January 5
- JANUARY 5, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amirreza Sarlak executed in Doroud on January 5
JANUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khosro Alishahi executed in Qom on January 4
- JANUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 16 men executed on January 4
JANUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hengaw: at least 17 people killed during the first week of protests
JANUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on the 8th Day of Protests
Demonstrations in 222 Locations, at least 19 victims
JANUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on the 7th Day of Protests
582 arrested, and at least 15 lost their lives
JANUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Arrest of 81 Teenagers in Yasuj and 200 Citizens in Qom During Protests
- JANUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Tabriz on January 3
Ebrahim Bazvand, Arman Masjedi, Hashem Memari
- JANUARY 3, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on January 3
Khalil Rahmani, Fahim Rasoulzadeh, Asghar Shahi
JANUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 77 new arrests
JANUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on the Sixth Day of Protests
Violence by Security Forces and an Increase in the Arrest of Protesters
JANUARY 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on 5th Day of Protests
Expansion of Gatherings and Violence