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
- 9,142
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 9,142 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
DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - On 10 December, Iran exceeded the threshold of 1,900 executions
1,908 executions since the beginning of 2025
DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Khosh-Kalam executed in Rasht on December 10
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Mashhad on December 10
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Chabahar on December 10
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sohail Hamidi executed in Mahabad on December 10
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on December 10
Khoda-Bakhsh Elyasi + 2
DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified man executed in Chabahar on December 10
DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Salim Afrashteh executed in Dorud on December 10
DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentence of Varisheh Moradi overturned
Kurdish political prisoner
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Reza Abbasian and Khalil Fadaei executed in Semnan on December 10
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 6 men executed in Birjand on December 9
Ramezan Deldadeh, Behzad Mazarzehi, Ali Barahouyi, Mirzakhan Basati + 2
DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Houshang Jadidi executed in Ahvaz on December 9
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Shahmorad Abdi executed in Ilam on December 9
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Abdollah Ghasemi executed in Borazjan on December 9
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Emad Rashidi executed in Jiroft on December 9
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ghanbar Eslami executed in Khaf on December 9
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jalil Shahsavari executed in Yazd on December 9
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Kermali Farhadi executed in Bam on December 9
DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Goli Koohkan has been saved
Thanks to an international fundraising campaign
- DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Majid Nazaran executed in Quchan on December 9
DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 Christian converts sentenced to prison terms
Aida Najaflou, Lida Aleksani, Joseph Shahbazian, Naser Navard Goltapeh + 1
DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 98th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign
DECEMBER 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Execution of Women in Iran Soars: 70% Increase in 2 Year
By the end of November 2025, over 1,800 people had been executed, including at least 57 women
- DECEMBER 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sultan Morad Bahmani executed in Kerman on December 8
- DECEMBER 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 men executed in Isfahan on December 8
Mohammad Soori, Shahram Mirzadeh, Fardin Rezaei and Habib Faridi
- DECEMBER 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sattar Zahedifar executed in Gonabad on December 8
- DECEMBER 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Esfandiar Razzaqi executed in Esfarayen on December 8
- DECEMBER 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad-Baqer Souri + 1 executed in Isfahan on December 8
HoC already reported the execution of Souri
DECEMBER 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Raoufi executed in Kashan on December 7
DECEMBER 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Ghaffari executed on December 7
The primary defendant in a major economic case