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 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 PENALTYIRAN - 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
JANUARY 1, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Names of 29 arrested protesters
Including 7 women
- JANUARY 1, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed on January 1
Mola Morad Ghobadi, Hossein Morad Zamani, Khodayar Mirzazadeh
JANUARY 1, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on 4th Day of Protests
Expansion of Gatherings and Intensification of the Security Atmosphere
- DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 5 men executed in Shiraz on December 31
Saeed Partouy, Ali Partouy, Arash Shams, Naser Mirzayi and Sohrab Imani
- DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 7 men executed on December 31
Karamali Khani, Ehsan Dehqanpanah, Mohsen Jadidi, Manouchehr Niazi, Mehran Hosseini, Keramat Safari, Moslem Rafiinia
DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR report on widespread and systematic drug executions
- DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 9 men executed on December 31
Samad Azizi, Niazali Yari, Sohbat Fathi, Meysam Naseri, Amir Jafari-Rad, Erfan Sheikh Eslami + 3
- DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 men executed on December 31
Ahad Mirzaei, Hanif Mohammadi, Yasin Azimi, Abbas Gholipour
- DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Karamali Khani and Niazali Faryadi hanged in Kashmar on December 31
DECEMBER 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - NCRI Year End Report: More than 2,200 executions in 2025
An Unprecedented High in Khamenei’s 37-Year Criminal Rule
DECEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 9 men executed in various prisons on December 30
Sajjad Veysi, Ali Akbar Barzegar, Peyman Zamani, Yahya Panahi Rad, Amin Khosroabadi, Mahmoud Zarei, Khodarahm Ahmadi, Ali Mohammad Dastar, Mansour Rigi
DECEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on 3rd day of protests
- DECEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Farid Norizad executed in Quchan on December 30