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
APRIL 16, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED IN PUBLIC FOR RAPE, MINOR REPRIEVED
Mousa Ali Mohammadik, an Iranian convicted of raping and abducting more than 40 schoolgirls, was hanged in public but his accomplice teenage son was reprieved.
- APRIL 15, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TEENAGER FACING EXECUTION FOR CRIME COMMITTED AS MINOR
a teenager was sentenced to death for a crime he was alleged to have committed when he was 17 years old, according to the Ettemad daily.
APRIL 14, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR ROBBING BANK
Iran publicly hanged Ghobad Siah-Mansour, a serial bank robber who killed a policeman during a clash with security forces.
- APRIL 13, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, known as Raoof, was executed in Alivaz, Iran.
a man, known as Raoof, was executed in Alivaz, Iran.
- APRIL 11, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
Kerman’s court Judge Amiri Tabar had sentenced two young men to death
Kerman’s court Judge Amiri Tabar had sentenced two young men to death
APRIL 11, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO MEN HANGED FOR MURDER
two Iranian men were hanged in prison in Yasooj, southwestern Iran, for murdering three people in a fight.
APRIL 9, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. POLITICAL PRISONER FACING IMMINENT EXECUTION
Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence against Hojjat Zamani, a longtime political prisoner in Iran, making his execution imminent. Zamani, 29 years old, had been imprisoned in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran since the year 2000 for being a m
APRIL 7, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYan Iranian Christian is facing the death penalty in an Islamic court, according to the human rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
an Iranian Christian is facing the death penalty in an Islamic court, according to the human rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
- APRIL 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
Sohrab Mohammad and Ahmad B. were publicy hanged in Iran for murder.
Sohrab Mohammad and Ahmad B. were publicy hanged in Iran for murder.
- APRIL 5, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, Rezayi Hasan, 37, was executed in Saveh, Iran.
a man, Rezayi Hasan, 37, was executed in Saveh, Iran.
- MARCH 31, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
according to the ”Iranian Human Rights Activist Groups in EU and North America...
according to the ”Iranian Human Rights Activist Groups in EU and North America...
MARCH 16, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING CHILDREN WHIPPED THEN EXECUTED IN PUBLIC
Mohammed Bijeh, a man convicted of raping and murdering 16 boys was lashed 100 times, and then hanged in front of a large, angry Iranian crowd who pelted him with stones and scuffled with police.
- MARCH 14, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
Bahram Oroumand and Saed Hussien, two youths, were sentenced to death
Bahram Oroumand and Saed Hussien, two youths, were sentenced to death
- MARCH 14, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TWO MEN HANGED PUBLICLY FOR RAPE AND ARMED ROBBERY
two Iranians were hanged in public in Bandar-Abbas in southern Iran after they were found guilty of rape and armed robbery.
- MARCH 13, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN HANGED FOR BANK RAID MURDERS
Ali Sookhtezadeh was hanged in public in Ahvaz, south-western Iran, for murdering five people during a bank robbery.
- MARCH 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
two men convicted of robbery were publicly given 74 lashes each
two men convicted of robbery were publicly given 74 lashes each
MARCH 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. JUDICIARY ENDS PROCEEDINGS AGAINST AGHAJARI
Iran's judiciary has ended proceedings against the country's top academic dissident, a man who faced the death penalty for telling Iranians not to follow their ruling clerics ''like monkeys'', his lawyer said.
- MARCH 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. CONVICTED MURDERER HANGED, ROBBERS LASHED
Asghar Mohammadzadeh, an Iranian man convicted of murdering two brothers, was hanged before dawn in a prison in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.
- MARCH 7, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
the Judiciary in the city of Karaj, Iran, issued death sentences for two young men
the Judiciary in the city of Karaj, Iran, issued death sentences for two young men
- FEBRUARY 28, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. US STATE ANNUAL REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN 2004 DENOUNCES SUMMARY EXECUTIONS
the United States on Monday kept up its feud with Syria and Iran, blasting their regimes as represseive and their human rights records as fraught with abuses ranging from arbitrary arrest to torture.
- FEBRUARY 28, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
according to the ”Iranian Human Rights Activist Groups in EU and North America...
according to the ”Iranian Human Rights Activist Groups in EU and North America...
FEBRUARY 27, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYa middle-aged man and his teenage son were facing imminent execution
a middle-aged man and his teenage son were facing imminent execution
- FEBRUARY 21, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. AT LEAST 23 EXECUTIONS AND 42 DEATH SENTENCES SO FAR THIS YEAR
at least 23 people have been hanged in Iran in 2005 and 42 people have been sentenced to death, said the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), adding that at least 30 minors and 15 women were amongst the prisoners on death row in Iranian prisons.
FEBRUARY 19, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY21 year old girl sentenced to death in Iran
Tayabeh Sari Zadeh, a 21 year old girl from Khoy, in north western Iran has been sentenced to execution.
- FEBRUARY 12, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. GUARDS SAY RUSHDIE STILL FACES EXECUTION
Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards said Salman Rushdie still faced eventual execution, 16 years after revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini imposed a death sentence on the British novelist.
- FEBRUARY 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
the United Nations painted a damning portrait of women's rights in Iran
the United Nations painted a damning portrait of women's rights in Iran
FEBRUARY 6, 2005FranceDEATH PENALTYthe Paris Prefecture has cancelled permits for a demonstration for democracy
the Paris Prefecture has cancelled permits for a demonstration for democracy
- FEBRUARY 4, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
an unnamed individual charged with murder was handed down an execution sentence
an unnamed individual charged with murder was handed down an execution sentence
- JANUARY 31, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
according to the ”Iranian Human Rights Activist Groups in EU and North America...
according to the ”Iranian Human Rights Activist Groups in EU and North America”, 26 people were sentenced to death, in Iran, in the last month.
- JANUARY 28, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on Iran on to abolish the death penalty
the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on Iran on to abolish the death penalty