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
- APRIL 26, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TWO HANGED
two people were hanged in the prison of Ahwaz (southern Iranian province of Khuzestan), reported the official Iranian news agency Irna.
- APRIL 26, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
PLANNED IRANIAN STONING DRAWS CRITICISM
Human Rights Watch received reports that a court in Rasht, in northwest Iran, upheld a sentence of death by stoning against Muhammad Navid Khamami.
APRIL 19, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: DELARA'S EXECUTION POSTPONED
Iranian human rights activists say the execution of juvenile offender Delara Darabi has been postponed. Darabi, who was due to be executed on April 20, was sentenced to death for a murder she allegedly committed at the age of 17.
APRIL 19, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: MAN HANGED FOR RAPE
a man convicted of raping a woman five years ago was hanged in a prison in
- APRIL 18, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
MAN HANGED IN IRAN FOR MURDER
a man convicted of murder was hanged in a prison in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, a local newspaper reported.
- APRIL 14, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: DEATH PENALTY OVERTURNED AGAINST TWO IRANIAN KURDS
Iran overturned the death penalty sentence against two Kurdish Iranians, the Amir Kabir University of Technology website reported, citing the defendants’ lawyer.
APRIL 10, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: THREE PEOPLE HANGED OVER 2008 MOSQUE BOMBING
Iran executed three people, two of them University students, convicted of being involved in the bombing of a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz which killed 14 people and injured 200 others in April 2008.
- APRIL 9, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: DELARA AT IMMEDIATE RISK OF EXECUTION
Delara Darabi, the young artist who has been in Rasht prison for the last 5 years in Iran, is at great risk of execution at any moment
- APRIL 7, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: JOURNALIST BOUTIMAR'S DEATH SENTENCE SUSPENDED
the death sentence issued in Iran to Kurdish journalist Hiwa Boutimar was suspended,
- APRIL 6, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRANIAN JUVENILE OFFENDER, SENTENCED TO DEATH, HOPES TO SAVE HER LIFE
the lawyer of Delara Darabi, a 23-year-old Iranian woman in prison and facing execution for murder, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that she is still hoping the family of the victim will intervene and save her life.
MARCH 29, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: YOUNG PRISONER EXECUTED IN SANANDAJ CENTRAL PRISON
Rahmat Sadeqi, a resident of Sanandaj, Iran, was executed in late March in Sanandaj's Central Prison.
- MARCH 27, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: ANOTHER JUVENILE TO BE EXECUTED
Amnesty International warned of the imminent execution of juvenile offender Abumoslem Sohrabi, now 24, from Firouzabad, in Fars Province in Iran.
- MARCH 25, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN CONSIDERING THE DEATH PENALTY FOR ‘OFFENSIVE’ BLOGGERS
Al Jazeera’s Nazanin Sadri reported that Iran is considering a new law that would allow the death penalty for “offensive” bloggers.
MARCH 20, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: ONE MAN HANGED IN SIRJAN
One man was hanged last week in the prison of Sirjan (south-east Iranian province
- MARCH 14, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
three Iranian men were hanged in prison for murder in the southern city
three Iranian men were hanged in prison for murder in the southern city
- MARCH 14, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
an unidentified 23 year old man found guilty of raping two teenage boys
an unidentified 23 year old man found guilty of raping two teenage boys
- MARCH 11, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: FOUR HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran hanged four convicted drug smugglers in a prison in the eastern town of Tabas,
- MARCH 11, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: TWO MEN HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Two men were hanged in the prison of Sari (northern Iran), reported the official site of
- MARCH 10, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
THREE EXECUTED IN IRAN’S NORTHWESTERN PROVINCE – WEBSITE
Hamed Mohammadzadeh, a prisoner from Miandoab in Iran’s West Azarbayjan Province, was hanged at the central prison of Orumiyyeh, the capital of that province, on a murder charge, according to the website of Human Rights Activists in Iran [HRAI]. Mohammadz
- MARCH 9, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: AMNESTY CAMPAIGN FOR EIGHT WOMEN AT RISK OF BEING STONED TO DEATH
as many as eight woman are at imminent risk of being stoned to death for adultery in Iran, according to reports received by Amnesty International.
MARCH 9, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: FIVE EXECUTED FOR MURDER, KIDNAPPING
Five prisoners were hanged in Iran for murder and kidnapping, state-run media reports
- MARCH 8, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: MAN HANGED FOR MURDER
an Iranian man convicted of murdering a jeweller was hanged in the western province of Kermanshah, state-
MARCH 3, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO MEN HANGED IN ZAHEDAN
Two men were hanged in the prison of Zahedan (south-eastern Iran) early this morning reported
- MARCH 1, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS 10 CONVICTED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran executed 10 men for drug trafficking in the western Kermanshah Province, the province’s
- MARCH 1, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: KURDISH ACTIVIST SENTENCED TO DEATH
an appeals court in Iran found Kurdish student, Habibolah Latifi, guilty of waging war against God
- FEBRUARY 28, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: MAN HANGED IN THE PRISON OF OROUMIEH
One man identified as Mehdi Ghasemzadeh was hanged in the prison of Orumieh (northwestern
- FEBRUARY 23, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
Ashraf Kalhori, approximately 40 years old, detained in the Sepidar jail...
Ashraf Kalhori, approximately 40 years old, detained in the Sepidar jail...
- FEBRUARY 22, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
THREE IRANIANS HANGED FOR MURDER
three Iranians convicted of murder were hanged in Tehran's Evin prison. The men were identified
FEBRUARY 19, 2009IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: ADULTERY CONVICTED MAN HANGED
according to reports from Iran, Abdollah Farivar Moghadam who had previosly been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, was hanged in the prison of Sari.
- FEBRUARY 18, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: THREE PEOPLE EXECUTED IN AHWAZ
Three men were hanged in Ahwaz, capital of the Iranian oil rich province of Khuzestan