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
- 8,610
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 8,610 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 2, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified as Nasser Batemani...
a man, identified as Nasser Batemani...
- JANUARY 1, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
Offences punishable by death include:
Offences punishable by death include:
- DECEMBER 28, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian media reported that two men had been hanged.
Iranian media reported that two men had been hanged.
- DECEMBER 25, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TWO MEN HANGED FOR VIOLENT CRIMES, DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran hanged two men convicted of murder, armed kidnapping and drug trafficking, the ISNA news agency reported. One of the men was identified as Pordel B, convicted of murder during an armed clash as well as involvement in the armed trafficking of 15kg of
- DECEMBER 24, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. THREE MEN PUBLICLY HANGED IN FRONT OF CHEERING CROWDS
Iran publicly hanged three men convicted of drug trafficking and armed robbery in Zahedan, the capital of the southeastern Sistan-e Baluchestan province, the ISNA news agency reported.
- DECEMBER 23, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
two men, Mahmood and Mostafa...
two men, Mahmood and Mostafa...
- DECEMBER 20, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. SIX MEN HANGED FOR MURDER
an Afghan identified only by his first name as Vahid, 22, was hanged in Evin prison in Tehran, Iran, along with five other men convicted of murder. The report identified the men only as Hassangholi, Yadollah, Hossein, Mohammad-Hadi and Kheirollah.
- DECEMBER 19, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS ARAB SEPARATISTS
Iran hanged three people for carrying out bombings in the oil rich Khuzestan province. The Tehran Emrooz daily newspaper said the men were hanged in the provincial capital Ahvaz, where in January 2006 they bombed a private bank and the office of the gover
- DECEMBER 19, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian authorities hanged three men in the south-western city of Ahwaz.
Iranian authorities hanged three men in the south-western city of Ahwaz.
- DECEMBER 18, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. THREE AFGHANS PUBLICLY HANGED FOR RAPE
Iran publicly hanged three Afghan men convicted of rape. Gholam Hazrat, Shah Mir and Nour Ahmad were executed in the town of Rafsanjan, southern Kerman province.
- DECEMBER 12, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS MAN IN PUBLIC FOR MURDER
an Iranian man convicted of murdering 12 family members was publicly hanged in the southern town of Jahrom.
- DECEMBER 7, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRANIAN MAN HANGED FOR MURDERING GIRL
an Iranian man convicted of murdering a young girl was hanged at a prison in western Iran.
- DECEMBER 5, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. PARISA AKBARI, ORIGINALLY SENTENCED TO DEATH BY STONING, "RELEASED"
Parisa Akbari, one of the Iranian women sentenced to death by stoning for "adultery," was released from jail as a free woman after receiving 99 lashes for having sex outside of marriage.
- DECEMBER 4, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN PUBLICLY HANGS MAN FOR MURDER
an unidentified Iranian man convicted of murder and armed robbery...
- DECEMBER 3, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN PUBLICLY HANGS FOUR FOR MURDER
it was reported that Iran publicly hanged four men convicted of murder in the southeastern city of Zahedan and Langerood in northern Gilan province.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. SENTENCES OF EXECUTION BY STONING REVERSED FOR TWO IRANIAN WOMEN
branch 15 of Iran's Supreme Court ordered the dismissal of charges of "adultery" in the cases of Parisa and Najaf Akbari.
- NOVEMBER 26, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR ADULTERY, KIDNAPPING
Iran publicly hanged a man convicted of repeated kidnapping and adultery in the southern province of Kerman, Fars news agency reported.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. PROSECUTORS SEEK DEATH PENALTY FOR 7 “VULGAR CD” SELLERS
Tehran’s public prosecutor’s office is seeking the death penalty for seven individuals accused of producing and distributing pornographic CDs which are banned in Islamic Iran.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN DENIES EXECUTIONS BY STONING
Justice minister Jamal Karimi-Rad reaffirmed that Iran is not carrying out death sentences by stoning, despite such verdicts still being handed down to several adulterers.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN SAYS DEATH PENALTY AWAITS PRODUCERS OF PORNOGRAPHIC VIDEOS
the prosecutor-general of Iran’s capital Tehran said that death penalty awaits the producers of immoral [pornographic] videos.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Ali A., 45, and Mohammad A. 37, have been hanged in Amor Prison, in Iran, for murder
Ali A., 45, and Mohammad A. 37, have been hanged in Amor Prison, in Iran, for murder
- NOVEMBER 21, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Mokhtar jafar Zadeh, Seyed Abolghasem Hosseini...
Mokhtar jafar Zadeh, Seyed Abolghasem Hosseini..
- NOVEMBER 19, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN PUBLICLY HANGS FIVE MEN FOR RAPE, KIDNAPPING
Iran has publicly hanged five men convicted of rape and kidnapping in the northern province of Golestan.
- NOVEMBER 17, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. FIVE HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran hanged five men convicted of drug trafficking in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi province
- NOVEMBER 14, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR SODOMY
an Iranian man convicted of sodomy was publicly hanged in the evening in the western town of Kermanshah, the official news agency IRNA reported.
- NOVEMBER 14, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Awaz has been sentenced to death, in Iran...
Awaz has been sentenced to death, in Iran...
- NOVEMBER 13, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Babak, 19, has been sentenced to death, in Iran...
Babak, 19, has been sentenced to death, in Iran...
- NOVEMBER 12, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Javad Almonshi has been executed in Ervin Prison, Iran.
Javad Almonshi has been executed in Ervin Prison, Iran.
- NOVEMBER 8, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS BANGLADESHI FOR MURDER
Iran hanged a Bangladeshi convicted of murdering his brother-in-law in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
- NOVEMBER 8, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran hanged four men.
Iran hanged four men.
