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
- 8,611
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 8,611 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
- MARCH 10, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: TWO MEN HANGED IN QOM
Two men were hanged in the prison of Qom, Iran, reported the state run Iranian
MARCH 10, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: ONE MAN HANGED IN PUBLIC
One man was hanged in public in the southwest Iranian city of Ahvaz, reported the official
MARCH 8, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Two men were hanged in the province of Lorestan, west of Iran, early this week.
MARCH 7, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: MAN HANGED IN PRISON WEST OF TEHRAN
One man was hanged in the prison of Rajaee Shahr (west of Tehran) last week. According
MARCH 7, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: PROSECUTOR SAYS VALIAN DEATH SENTENCE NOT CARRIED OUT, STILL AWAITING APPEAL
in Iran, Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi denied reports that Mohammad Amin
- MARCH 3, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: AMPUTATION SENTENCE OF ONE PERSON AND PUBLIC FLOGGING OF ANOTHER CARRIED OUT IN KHUZESTAN
According to the web site of the Public Relations Office of the Khuzestan Court House
MARCH 3, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH FOR OPPOSITION ACTIVIST
An Iranian opposition-run Web site says an appeals court has upheld the death sentence for a student who
- FEBRUARY 27, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
CALL TO STOP EXECUTION OF IRANIAN-KURDISH ACTIVIST
over two thousand Iranian human rights and social activists have called for the annulment of death sentence issued to Shirin Alam Huli, 28.
- FEBRUARY 27, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
Three men were hanged in the prison of Birjand in eastern Iran, reported the daily enwspaper Khorasan
Three men were hanged in the prison of Birjand in eastern Iran, reported the daily enwspaper Khorasan
- FEBRUARY 25, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
Five men were hanged in the prison of Kerman
Five men were hanged in the prison of Kerman, southeastern Iran, reported the state run Iranian news
- FEBRUARY 24, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
Sistan-Baluchestan Province Prosecutor Mohammad Marziye denied...
Sistan-Baluchestan Province Prosecutor Mohammad Marziye denied...
- FEBRUARY 24, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: JUNDULLAH' LEADERS' BROTHER EXECUTED
Iran executed Jundullah terrorist organisation leader Abdolmalek Rigi's brother
- FEBRUARY 22, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: DISSIDENTS - 'GOVERNMENT KILLS TO INSTILL FEAR'
according to the International Network Iran Human Rights 2009 Report there were 402 executions
- FEBRUARY 21, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: DEATH TO LIFE FOR IRANIAN
the Kuwaiti Court of Appeals commuted the death sentence of an Iranian man...
- FEBRUARY 20, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: THREE PEOPLE HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Three men were hanged in two different Iranian cities for drug trafficking.
- FEBRUARY 18, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: PEJAK TERRORISTS EXECUTED IN IRAN
five people were executed in the Iranian city of Urmia for assisting terrorist organisation PEJAK
- FEBRUARY 17, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN REJECTS U.N. CALL TO FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS
Iran rejected calls to release all political prisoners and accept an international inquiry
- FEBRUARY 17, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: 21-YEAR-OLD SENTENCED TO DEATH
Iran sentenced political prisoner, Amir Reza Aarefi, 21, to death on the charge of “mohareb” (enemy of God). Aarefi was arrested in April 2009 and was in prison during the presidential election...
- FEBRUARY 17, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TIES TO MONARCHIST GROUP
An Iranian court sentenced Amir-Reza Arefi to death for ties to an illegal group called the Iranian
- FEBRUARY 15, 2010ItalyDEATH PENALTY
ITALY TO UN ON IRAN EXECUTING MINORS
Italy voiced "serious concern" to the United Nations over Iran's "systematic" use of capital
- FEBRUARY 11, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRANIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER INCLUSION IN GROUP TRIAL
an Iranian man arrested more than a month before Iran's June election was sentenced to death after being included in a mass trial over postelection protests.
- FEBRUARY 10, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: 7 DEATH PENALTIES FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING CONFIRMED
the Head of the Kerman Revolutionary Court in Iran said that death sentences for seven out of 24 members of a drugs trafficking band were confirmed by the Appeals Court.
FEBRUARY 9, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: MAN CONDEMNED TO DEATH OVER ANTI-GOVERNMENT RIOTS
an Iranian has been condemned to death for anti-government riots at the
- FEBRUARY 7, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN'S MOURNING MOTHERS: "STOP THE EXECUTIONS"
Mourning Mothers, a group of wives and mothers who have lost their spouses or children during the post-elections protests in Iran objected to the executions of political protesters.
FEBRUARY 6, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: SHIRIN EBADI'S SAYS DEATH TRIAL UNFAIR
Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, 62, said that a 19 year old man
- FEBRUARY 2, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN TO EXECUTE NINE PROTESTERS 'SOON': JUDICIARY OFFICIAL
Iran will "soon execute" nine people arrested during anti-government protests for seeking to topple the
JANUARY 30, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO MEN EXECUTED FOR RAPE
Two young men were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison around noon.
JANUARY 29, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: MULLAHS' GUARDIAN COUNCIL SECRETARY CALLS FOR MORE EXECUTIONS
Ahmad Jannati, Secretary of the iranian clerical regime’s Guardian Council and a leading figure in the faction affiliated to Khamenei, reiterated in his Friday prayers sermon on the need to uphold the “velayat-e faqih” (absolute rule of clergy), State-run
JANUARY 28, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO POST-ELECTION 'RIOTERS' HANGED
Two of the people who have been sentenced to death in connection to the post-election protests in Iran, were hanged early this morning.
JANUARY 27, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: CONVICTED KILLER OF PROSECUTOR HANGED IN PUBLIC
Iran publicly hanged a man convicted of murdering a top judiciary official in the central city of Isfahan, Fars