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
- OCTOBER 29, 2007NetherlandsDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: DUTCH-IRANIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SENTENCED TO DEATH IN IRAN
Dutch-Iranian human rights activist Abdullah al-Mansouri was allegedly sentenced to death in Iran and may be executed within 48 hours, reports said.
- OCTOBER 28, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN EXECUTES TWO FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING, MURDER
Iran executed two convicted of drug trafficking in the southern Kerman province...
- OCTOBER 28, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN EXECUTES TWO FOR RAPE
Iran executed two men in prison after they were convicted of raping...
- OCTOBER 27, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
THREE HANGED IN CENTRAL IRAN FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
three were hanged in Yazd, central Iran, for drug trafficking...
- OCTOBER 25, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS MAN IN PUBLIC FOR MURDER
IRAN HANGS MAN IN PUBLIC FOR MURDER
- OCTOBER 25, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
the state-run Fars news agency reported that a man identified as Iraj Feyzi...
the state-run Fars news agency reported that a man identified as Iraj Feyzi...
OCTOBER 25, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. AFGHAN BOY HANGED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHDOG
the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission received evidence from an
- OCTOBER 24, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a prisoner identified as Sadeq M. was hanged in the southern city of Shiraz...
a prisoner identified as Sadeq M. was hanged in the southern city of Shiraz...
OCTOBER 24, 2007ItalyDEATH PENALTYIRAN. D'ELIA- EUROPE’S CONDESCENSION DOESN’T HELP RESPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
“It lacks consistency and credibility that countries, like Italy, support the UN Moratorium on capital
OCTOBER 24, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. FIVE PEOPLE HANGED IN DIFFERENT CITIES
Iran hanged five men convicted of murder, rape and kidnapping in different cities
OCTOBER 20, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. FIVE EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
five drug traffickers were executed in Birjand in northeast
- OCTOBER 19, 2007AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
IRANIAN OFFICIAL DENIES YOUNG AFGHAN PRISONERS EXECUTED
IRANIAN OFFICIAL DENIES YOUNG AFGHAN PRISONERS EXECUTED
- OCTOBER 19, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: EU OPPOSES EXECUTION SENTENCE OF ALI MAHIN TORABI
the EU announced it was deeply concerned by the confirmation by H. E. Ayatollah Sharoudi, Chief of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, of the execution sentence on Mr Ali Mahin Torabi.
- OCTOBER 18, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: URGENT APPEAL FOR A YOUNG MAN FACING EXECUTION FOR PLAYGROUND DEATH WHEN AGED 16
Amnesty International launched an urgent appeal for Ali Mahin Torabi
OCTOBER 17, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. EIGHT MEN, ONE WOMAN HANGED IN TEHRAN PRISON
Iranian authorities hanged eight men and a woman in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, state media reported.
OCTOBER 17, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE PUBLICLY HANGED FOR RAPE IN CITY OF SHIRAZ
Iran hanged three convicted rapists in public in the southern city of Shiraz, the
- OCTOBER 16, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
EU CONCERNED ABOUT IRAN YOUTH DEATH VERDICT
the European Union voiced ‘deep concern’ over what it said was the possible imminent execution of an Iranian man convicted of murdering a fellow school pupil when he was 16 years old. Ali Mahin Torabi, who has been in prison since 2002, was sentenced to d
- OCTOBER 16, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: ARAB RIGHTS GROUP APPEALS TO UN AGAINST AHWAZI EXECUTIONS
the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization issued an appeal to Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, protesting the imminent execution of six Ahwazi Arabs in Ahwaz, the provincial capital of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran.
OCTOBER 15, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: YOUNG WOMAN FACING EXECUTION
a young Iranian woman accused of killing an 80 year old man who allegedly held her prisoner in his home may be executed within days.
- OCTOBER 14, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran arrested a prominent rights activist who has campaigned against the death penalty on charges...
Iran arrested a prominent rights activist who has campaigned against the death penalty on charges...
- OCTOBER 10, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: TWO HANGED IN IRANIAN KURDISTAN
two Iranians, Kiumars and Nader Mohammadi have been hanged in Iran's northwestern Kurdistan province, authorities announced.
OCTOBER 10, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. EXECUTIONS REACH 265 DEATHS IN A YEAR
Iran has executed 265 people in the past twelve months in a dramatic increase
OCTOBER 8, 2007AfghanistanDEATH PENALTYAFGHANISTAN WANTS TO TRANSFER 16 AFGHAN CHILDREN SCHEDULED FOR EXECUTION IN IRAN
the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry announced that 16
- OCTOBER 4, 2007AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. PAPER FEARS CHILD DRUG SMUGGLERS FACE HANGING IN IRAN
16 Afghan children were arrested by Iranian border forces on the Islam Qala-
- OCTOBER 3, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Abolfazl F., 33...
a man, identified only as Abolfazl F., 33...
OCTOBER 3, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED IN PUBLIC FOR MURDER, SODOMY AND OTHER CRIMES
a man, identified as Shanuz Morovati, was hanged in a public square in Iran after
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. THE JUDICIARY ADVISOR DEFENDS THE PUNISHMENT OF STONING TO DEATH
Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the mullahs’ Judiciary Chief Advisor and an ideologue
SEPTEMBER 27, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE MEN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR RAPE OF 12 WOMEN
Iran hanged three men in public for raping and robbing twelve young women, most of them university
SEPTEMBER 17, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYUN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL: IRAN SHOULD STOP EXECUTING CHILDREN
Iran should immediately halt the execution of children, the
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRANIAN COURT SENTENCES TWO TEENAGERS TO DEATH FOR RAPE
an Iranian court sentenced two teenagers to death on the charges of rape