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
- MARCH 29, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
UN RIGHTS EXPERT BLASTS IRAN OVER JUVENILE EXECUTIONS
a UN human rights expert blasted Iran over the “unacceptable” executions of juvenile offenders.
- MARCH 28, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified as Hossein Haj Mohamadi...
a man, identified as Hossein Haj Mohamadi...
- MARCH 16, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
TWO IRANIAN ASSASSINS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Majid Kavousifar and his accomplice Hossein Kavousifar...
- MARCH 14, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN EXECUTES MAN FOR
Ahmad Sariz was executed in public, in the Iranian city of Zahedan, near the Pakistani and Afghan borders, the daily Kayhan reported.
- MARCH 11, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TWO HANGED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
two men convicted of armed drug smuggling were publicly hanged in the town...
MARCH 7, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN HANGS FIVE MEN CONVICTED OF MURDER
Iran executed five men convicted of murder, the semi-official
FEBRUARY 28, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED FOR CHILD RAPE AND MURDER
a young man convicted of child rape and murder was hanged in a prison in the northern Iranian
- FEBRUARY 26, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. CHILD RAPIST HANGED IN PUBLIC
a young man convicted of child rape was publicly hanged in Iran's central clerical capital of Qom, the
FEBRUARY 19, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN HANGS MAN ACCUSED OF TAKING PART IN RECENT BOMBING
Iranian authorities in the restive province of Sistan-va-Baluchistan, south-eastern Iran, hanged a man in public for his alleged role in last
FEBRUARY 16, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. SUPREME COURT CONFIRMS WOMAN'S DEATH SENTENCE
Iran's Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence of a 20 year old woman identified as Darabi,
- FEBRUARY 15, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Abbas, was hanged in Iran, for murder.
a man, identified only as Abbas, was hanged in Iran, for murder.
FEBRUARY 15, 2007United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTYUAE. IRANIAN MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR SMUGGLING 282KG OF HASHISH
a 45 year old Iranian man, identified as Jamshid T., was sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates by
- FEBRUARY 14, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a political prisoner, Risan Sawari...
a political prisoner, Risan Sawari...
FEBRUARY 14, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE MEN HANGED FOR DEADLY BLASTS
Iran executed three men who were convicted of deadly bombings in the southwest oil city of Ahvaz in 2005,
- FEBRUARY 13, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS FOUR MURDERERS
Four Iranian men convicted of murdering four people in separate incidents were hanged in Tehran, the
- FEBRUARY 12, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a man identified only as Alireza K. was hanged...
a man identified only as Alireza K. was hanged...
FEBRUARY 7, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
a court in Tehran sentenced to death Tahmineh Danesh, 35, a Kurdish woman arrested two years ago for murdering a man who was
- FEBRUARY 2, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. DEATH SENTENCE CONFIRMED FOR DELARA DARABI
an Iranian rights group said that a Tehran appeals court upheld a death sentence against Delara Darabi, 20, who allegedly killed a cousin three years ago when was minor.
- FEBRUARY 1, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
Judge Mohammad Ali Ebrahimkhani...
Judge Mohammad Ali Ebrahimkhani...
FEBRUARY 1, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYISLAMIC COURT FREES IRANIAN TEEN FROM DEATH SENTENCE
after two years in prison, Iranian teen Nazanin Fatehi was released and spared from her original death sentence following an international campaign spearheaded by former Miss World Canada Nazanin Afshin-Jam.
- JANUARY 28, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN PUBLICLY HANGS MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER
an Iranian man, Baqer Sajadi, 36, convicted of murdering two people has been publicly hanged in Natanz according to newspaper reports.
- JANUARY 24, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. FOUR IRANIAN ARABS EXECUTED
Iran publicly hanged four men convicted of taking part in deadly bombings in the south-western city of Ahwaz in 2005.
- JANUARY 24, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. KURDISH WOMAN CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR EXTRA MARITAL SEXUAL RELATIONS
Ameneh Salam, a 21 year old Kurdish woman
- JANUARY 22, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran has publicly hanged a man convicted of murder.
Iran has publicly hanged a man convicted of murder.
- JANUARY 22, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran has publicly hanged a man convicted of drug trafficking.
Iran has publicly hanged a man convicted of drug trafficking.
- JANUARY 22, 2007IranDEATH BY PUNISHMENT
IRAN. YOUNG WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH ATTEMPTS SUICIDE
Delara Darabi, a 20-year-old Iranian woman sentenced to death on charges she killed a cousin when she was 17, tried to kill herself at Tehran's Evin prison. Her mother told Tehran daily Etemad that her daughter is clinically depressed and only weighs 35 k
- JANUARY 20, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
two prisoners, identified only as M.H. and S.S., were hanged in Ahwaz...
two prisoners, identified only as M.H. and S.S., were hanged in Ahwaz...
JANUARY 18, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRANIAN HANGED FOR DECADES-OLD MURDER
An Iranian convicted of murdering his brother and sister-in-law as well as their two children 27 years ago was hanged in the central city of Isfahan, the government newspaper Iran reported.
- JANUARY 17, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a young man, identified only as Arash, 20, was hanged...
a young man, identified only as Arash, 20, was hanged...
- JANUARY 16, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Mahmoud T., 33...
a man, identified only as Mahmoud T., 33...