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
- APRIL 8, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran. International organizations condemn executions in Iran
four international human rights organizations issued a joint statement calling for a halt on the execution of political prisoners in Iran and to save the life of Valiollah Feiz-Mahdavi.
- APRIL 7, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. FORMER NORWEGIAN PM URGES IRAN NOT TO HANG DISSIDENT
former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik appealed to the Iranian government not to go ahead as planned with the execution of long-time political prisoner Valiollah Feyz-Mahdavi.
APRIL 6, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR MURDER
an Iranian man convicted of murder was publicly hanged in southern Kerman province.
- MARCH 25, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
UNITED KINGDOM. MAN 'FACES DEATH IF EXPELLED' TO IRAN
an Iranian man will be executed for owning a satellite television system if he is sent home, MP Clare Short told Britain’s House of Commons. Short pleaded with Ministers to reconsider the case of the man and his family, after the Home Office ordered his d
- MARCH 19, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as H.Z. was hanged in public in the southern city of Jahrom...
a man, identified only as H.Z. was hanged in public in the southern city of Jahrom...
- MARCH 17, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. WOMEN ARRESTED IN PEACEFUL PROTEST COULD BE EXECUTED
the total number of arrests following a gathering of hundreds of women's rights defenders who had made their way from Tehran's Daneshjoo Park to Laleh Park to mark International Women's Day on March 8 remained uncertain, as was the fate of those arrested
MARCH 15, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. POLITICAL PRISONER AT RISK OF EXECUTION
prison officials in Iran repeatedly threatened to execute Valiollah Feyz Mahdavi, a sympathizer of an armed opposition group, during the Persian New Year holidays that begin on March 21, Human Rights Watch said.
MARCH 14, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYHANDS OFF CAIN RESPONDS TO THE IRANIAN EMBASSY’S DENIAL OF THE EXECUTION OF MINORS IN IRAN
Hands Off Cain replies to a note sent it by the Iranian embassy in Rome in which it denyed the application of the death penalty to minors.
- MARCH 9, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Abbas, 27...
a man, identified only as Abbas, 27...
- MARCH 8, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. US BLASTS IRAN IN ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
the United States blasted China and Iran for alleged gross human rights violations, branding them among the "most systematic" violators in a closely watched annual rights report.
- MARCH 7, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. YOUNG MAN HANGED IN PUBLIC
a young man was hanged in public in the western city of Qazvin.
MARCH 6, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR MURDER
an Iranian man convicted of murder was publicly hanged in southwestern Khuzestan province.
MARCH 5, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED PUBLICLY FOR MURDER
Ali Salahshoor, 33, was hanged publicly on Sunday morning for murdering two brothers in 2005 in Ziar, a village in the central Isfahan province.
- MARCH 4, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN EXECUTED FOR RAPE
Hossein S., 24, was hanged in Qazvin, northern Iran, for raping two women after breaking into a beauty parlour and threatening them with a knife.
- MARCH 4, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
UNITED KINGDOM. 60 PARLIAMENTARIANS CONDEMN EXECUTION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRAN
following the execution of political prisoner Hojjat Zamani in Gohardasht prison and the threat of a widespread mass execution of political prisoners in Iran, Lord Corbett of Castle Vale initiated a joint statement condemning gross violations of human rig
MARCH 3, 2006NetherlandsDEATH PENALTYNETHERLANDS. MINISTER WANTS TO SEND GAY IRANIAN ASYLUM-SEEKERS BACK
Dutch Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk planned to send Iranian homosexual asylum-seekers back home after cancelling a six-month reprieve, a letter to parliament revealed.
- MARCH 2, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. FIVE MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TEHRAN
five men were sentenced to death in Iran’s capital Tehran.
- MARCH 1, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. THREE ARAB ACTIVISTS EXECUTED
Iran executed three Arab activists in the south-western oil city of Ahwaz, according to local dissidents reached by telephone.
- MARCH 1, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Javad, has been sentenced...
a man, identified only as Javad, has been sentenced...
MARCH 1, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO MEN HANGED PUBLICLY
two men convicted of carrying out a deadly a bomb attack in Iran's restive oil city of Ahwaz were executed in public early morning.
- FEBRUARY 28, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. RIGHTS WATCH CONDEMNS RISE IN EXECUTIONS
a US-based human rights monitor voiced "grave concern" over a spike in the number of executions in Iran since the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005.
- FEBRUARY 25, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, identified only as Alireza, 29, has been hanged at Golpaygan...
a man, identified only as Alireza, 29, has been hanged at Golpaygan...
- FEBRUARY 24, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS IRAN'S EXECUTIONS
Amnesty International expressed its outrage over an "alarming rate" of executions in Iran, particularly the use of the death penalty against children.
- FEBRUARY 23, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
an unidentified man was hanged in Iran for murder.
an unidentified man was hanged in Iran for murder.
- FEBRUARY 23, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN HANGED FOR RAPE
an Iranian man convicted of rape was hanged in a prison in the northern city of Qazvin, the Etemad Melli newspaper reported.
- FEBRUARY 22, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
a woman, identified only as Zahra
a woman, identified only as Zahra
FEBRUARY 19, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. 22-YEAR-OLD MAN HANGED IN PRISON
a young man from the town of Ardebil, north-western Iran, was hanged in prison.
FEBRUARY 18, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. EXECUTION OF MINORS TO CONTINUE
a judge at Tehran’s Appellate Court announced that the Islamic Republic would continue to issue death verdicts for juvenile delinquents “without considering other available options”.
- FEBRUARY 17, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TWO MEN HANGED IN IRAN
two men convicted of rape and kidnapping were hanged in southwestern and southern Iran.
FEBRUARY 17, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTYITALY. HOC PRESENTS REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN IRAN AND APPEAL TO SAVE NAZANIN
a press conference took place at Hands Off Cain headquarters in Rome highlighting human rights violations in Iran and the case of Nazanin, the minor sentenced to death after being charged with killing one of the men who had attempted to rape her.