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
- 9,149
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 9,149 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
- 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 PENALTYIRAN: 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 17, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN REJECTS U.N. CALL TO FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS
Iran rejected calls to release all political prisoners and accept an international inquiry
FEBRUARY 15, 2010ItalyDEATH PENALTYITALY 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 PENALTYIRAN 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
- 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 PENALTY
IRAN: 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, 2010IranDEATH 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, 2010AfghanistanDEATH 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