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
- JANUARY 21, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: BROTHER OF GANG LEADER TO BE EXECUTED
Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of opposition gang leader Abdolmalek Rigi, was sentenced to death in Iran.
JANUARY 21, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: MAN HANGED IN ARDEBIL
One man was hanged in the prison of Ardebil, northwestern Iran, reported the official Iranian news agency
- JANUARY 20, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN EXECUTED FOR MURDER
one man was hanged in the prison of Khash, according to the official site of the Iranian judiciary in Sistan-Baluchestan.
- JANUARY 18, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
LETTER BY KURDISH PRISONER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN IRAN
female political prisoner Shirin Alam Hooli, sentenced to death in Iran for being a member of a Kurdish opposition organization PJAK...
- JANUARY 16, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: TWO KURDISH POLITICAL PRISONERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
an appeal court in Iran sentenced two Kurdish political prisoners to death. Mohammad-Amin Abdollahi, 25, and Ghader Mohammadzadeh were accused of organizing unlawful groups among other charges.
- JANUARY 16, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRANIAN TRADE UNIONIST TO BE EXECUTED
Iranian-Kurdish activist and teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar is facing the threat of imminent execution this weekend.
- JANUARY 11, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
KURDISH POLITICAL PRISONERS AT RISK OF EXECUTION
the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization announced the names...
JANUARY 9, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: SIX HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
six men convicted of drug trafficking were hanged early this morning in a prison in
JANUARY 8, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: WARNING AGAINST EXECUTION OF FIVE DETAINEES OF RECENT UPRISING
Abbas Jaafari Dowlat Abadi, Tehran’s Prosecutor, announced today that the cases of five individuals
- JANUARY 6, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
TEN IRANIAN CITIZENS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA
ten Iranian citizens were sentenced to death in China for smuggling drugs and will be executed over next days, the website of Iranian television reported.
- JANUARY 6, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: KURDISH POLITICAL PRISONER EXECUTED
Fasih (Fateh) Yasmini was executed in Khoy, Iran, without his lawyer being advised..
- JANUARY 6, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
the Azarbaijan Provincial Court of Appeal in Iran confirmed...
the Azarbaijan Provincial Court of Appeal in Iran confirmed...
- JANUARY 4, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS THREE CONVICTED OF MURDER
Iran hanged three men, two Iranian and an Afghan, convicted of murder and rape inside a prison in Varamin, south of Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported.
JANUARY 3, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: DEATH SENTENCE ISSUED FOR FEMALE KURDISH POLITICAL PRISONER
female Kurdish prisoner, Shirin Alam Holi (Alamhooli), 28, was sentenced to death charged for
- JANUARY 1, 2010IranDEATH PENALTY
Offences punishable by death include:
Offences punishable by death include:
- DECEMBER 30, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: DISSIDENT HANGED, RIOT BREAKS OUT IN KARAJ JAIL
dissident Ardeshir Geshavarz was hanged in the northern Iranian city of Karaj. He was accused
- DECEMBER 29, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: PRISONER ABOUT TO BE EXECUTED
in preparation for his execution, Ardeshir Keshavarz, 35, was transferred to solitary confinement after six years in Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran.
- DECEMBER 29, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: 61-YEAR-OLD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SPEAKING AT MEMORIAL FOR MASSACRED POLITICAL PRISONERS
Ali Saremi, 61, was sentenced to death for speaking at a memorial ceremony held for members and sympathizers of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
- DECEMBER 28, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TEHRAN
Ahmad Karimi, a young carpenter accused of being a ringleader in the post-election unrest in Iran
- DECEMBER 26, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: IRANIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG CHARGES
Iranian man Mumtaz Sultan Amiri was sentenced to death by Judge Redhwan Al Namer of the Yemeni State Security Court for bringing drugs from Iran to Yemen by the Hudhramout east coast.
- DECEMBER 22, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
two men convicted of armed robbery were hanged in the south Iranian city of Sirjan in Kerman
two men convicted of armed robbery were hanged in the south Iranian city of Sirjan in Kerman
- DECEMBER 20, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
UN CALLS ON IRAN TO ADDRESS SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
the United Nations passed a resolution first adopted in November 2009 by the UN Third Committee that calls on the Iranian Government to abolish any executions carried out without due process of law.
- DECEMBER 20, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: THREE MEN HANGED
three men were hanged in the prison of Isfahan (central Iran) according to the official site of Isfahan’s
DECEMBER 17, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: THE MINOR OFFENDER MOSLEH ZAMANI AND FOUR OTHERS WERE EXECUTED
According to unofficial sources from Iran, Mosleh Zamani (20) was hanged in the Dizelabad prison of
- DECEMBER 16, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: A 23-YEAR OLD FACES DEATH
Iran plans to hang Mosleh Zamani, 23, for an alleged offence committed when he was 17.
- DECEMBER 16, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: FOUR EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Three men were hanged in the prison of Zahedan, capital of the southeast Iranian province of Sistan-
- DECEMBER 15, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
One man was hanged in public in the Serahe Khoramshahr square of Ahvaz, in the
One man was hanged in public in the Serahe Khoramshahr square of Ahvaz, in the
- DECEMBER 14, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
one man was hanged in the northeast Iranian town of Bojnord early the morning,
one man was hanged in the northeast Iranian town of Bojnord early the morning,
DECEMBER 14, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER HANGED
Iran publicly hanged Mohammad Sadegh, 27, in the northern town of Noor, the Vatan Emrouz newspaper
- DECEMBER 13, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran hanged a man convicted of armed robbery in the western Khuzestan province, Fars news
Iran hanged a man convicted of armed robbery in the western Khuzestan province, Fars news