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
- 9,147
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 9,147 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
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
two men, identified only as Sepher and Farshid...
two men, identified only as Sepher and Farshid...
SEPTEMBER 6, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO PRISONERS HANGED IN TEHRAN
two Iranian men convicted of murder were hanged in a Tehran prison.
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran hanged a man, Gholam-Reza Rigi, for drug-related crime.
Iran hanged a man, Gholam-Reza Rigi, for drug-related crime.
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran hanged a man, Hamid Hosna’i, for drug-related crime.
Iran hanged a man, Hamid Hosna’i, for drug-related crime.
- AUGUST 26, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. DRUG TRAFFICKER PUBLICLY HANGED
an Iranian man convicted of drug trafficking was publicly hanged in the south-eastern town of Iranshahr...
- AUGUST 26, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran’s minister of intelligence said that the death sentence...
Iran’s minister of intelligence said that the death sentence of six people involved in the Ahvaz disturbances had been endorsed by the Supreme Court.
- AUGUST 24, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN HANGED PUBLICLY FOR ARMED ROBBERY
an Iranian man convicted of repeated armed robberies and rape was publicly hanged in the southeastern town of Khash.
- AUGUST 23, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Bahram...
a man, identified only as Bahram...
- AUGUST 23, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Morteza N., 20...
a man, identified only as Morteza N., 20...
- AUGUST 20, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran hanged a man, identified only as Karim B., for drug-related crime
Iran hanged a man, identified only as Karim B., for drug-related crime
- AUGUST 19, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN HANGED FOR MURDER
it was reported that an Iranian man convicted of murdering his wife was hanged in the northern town of Sari.
- AUGUST 15, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran. International outcry saved a woman sentenced to death in Iran
following an international campaign to save the life of Ashraf Kalhori, a woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran, the judiciary stopped the sentence being carried out.
- AUGUST 15, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. THREE MEN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
three Iranian men convicted of drug trafficking were hanged in public in the southeastern cities of Zabol and Zahedan.
- AUGUST 14, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Miyarash, 23...
a man, identified only as Miyarash, 23...
- AUGUST 12, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR RAPE, MURDER
an Iranian man convicted of raping and murdering a five-year-old boy in March 2004 was hanged in public in the north-western city of Tabriz, the Kayhan newspaper reported.
AUGUST 7, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED IN PUBLIC IN NORTHERN CITY
an Iranian man convicted of raping and murdering a young girl was hanged in public in the northern town of Babol, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
AUGUST 7, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. AFGHAN HITMAN HANGED IN PUBLIC
an Afghan hitman convicted of murdering a dozen people in south-eastern Iran, was hanged in public.
- AUGUST 6, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Mohsen, 21...
a man, identified only as Mohsen, 21...
AUGUST 5, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. EBADI'S RIGHTS GROUP BANNED
Iran's hard-line government banned a rights group led by Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, saying her Center for Protecting Human Rights had not obtained the proper permit.
AUGUST 1, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. WOMAN AT RISK OF IMMINENT EXECUTION
Delara Darabi, 19, has reportedly been sentenced to death for a second time after her case was retried. She is at risk of imminent execution for a murder which took place when she was 17 years old.
- JULY 31, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. COURT SENTENCES ANOTHER DEFENDANT TO DEATH FOR AHVAZ BOMBINGS
the acting head of Khuzestan Province's Justice Department announced that Hamzeh Savari...
- JULY 31, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Ali...
a man, identified only as Ali...
- JULY 27, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. EXECUTION OF A TEENAGE GIRL, BBC DOCUMENTARY
it was reported that a television documentary team had pieced together details surrounding the case of a 16-year-old girl, executed two years previously in Iran.
JULY 27, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. WOMAN TO BE STONED TO DEATH BY END OF MONTH, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
a young woman is at imminent risk of execution by stoning for adultery, Amnesty International said.
JULY 25, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TEN PEOPLE SENTENCED TO PUBLIC EXECUTION FOR BOMBINGS
a court in southwestern Iran handed down 10 death sentences over a wave of ethnic unrest in the key oil province of Khuzestan, the state broadcaster's website reported.
JULY 24, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO TEENAGERS HANGED IN PUBLIC
Two teenagers were hanged in public in the town of Aq Qala, northern Iran, the official news agency reported.
- JULY 23, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Mostafa...
a man, identified only as Mostafa...
- JULY 20, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Mohsen, 30...
a man, identified only as Mohsen, 30...
- JULY 19, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TWO MEN IN THEIR 20S HANGED IN PUBLIC
Iranian authorities hanged two young men in public in the western city of Boroujerd.
JULY 14, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYTURKEY. WOMEN PROTEST STONING TO DEATH OF IRANIAN
Turkish women organizations joined the growing international campaign for Iranian woman prisoner Melek Ghorbany who was sentenced to death by stoning on June 28, by a court in the northwest Iranian city of Urmia after being found guilty of committing adul