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
- JULY 27, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
US CONDEMNS IRANIAN EXECUTIONS, SAYS DUE PROCESS DENIED
The US State Department responded critically to 10 recent executions in Iran, saying the rights of defendants weren't safeguarded.
JULY 26, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED IN SOUTHERN PORT CITY FOR MURDER
an Iranian man was hanged at dawn in a prison in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the Iranian state-run daily Aftab Yazd said.
JULY 26, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYEUROPEAN UNION. EU CONCERNED OVER EXECUTION OF TWO IRANIAN BOYS
the European Union expressed concern over reports of executions of two Iranian youths in Mashhad on July 19.
JULY 25, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTYEUROPEAN UNION. PANNELLA CALLS FOR END TO ALL DEALINGS WITH IRAN
MEP and Hands Off Cain President Marco Panella deposited a parliamentary question to the European Commission regarding the European bloc’s relations with Iran.
- JULY 23, 2005SwedenDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. NOBEL LAUREATE SLAMS TEEN HANGINGS
Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi condemned the hanging of two teenagers accused of raping younger boys in north-eastern Iran, a punishment that also prompted protests by the international community and rights groups.
JULY 19, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO MEN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR RAPING TEENAGER
Mahmoud Asgari, 16, and Ayaz Marhoni, 18, two men convicted for raping a teenage boy were hanged in public in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad
- JULY 16, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER HANGED PUBLICLY
Eyvazali Hosseinzadeh, an Iranian man convicted of murder, was hanged in public in northwestern Ardebil province for killing a man in 1999.
JULY 13, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR MURDER OF POLICEMAN
Ali Safarpour, a 20 year old Iranian man convicted of killing police officer Hamid Enshadi, was hanged in public in Poldokhtar in the western province of Lorestan.
- JULY 9, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
a young man, identified only as Abbas, was sentenced to death
a young man, identified only as Abbas, was sentenced to death
- JULY 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, Gafarzadeh Mohsen, was executed in Salmas, Iran
a man, Gafarzadeh Mohsen, was executed in Salmas, Iran
JULY 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE MEN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR 'ARMED ROBBERY'
three men who had been condemned to death for armed robbery were hanged in the Qasemabad district of Mashhad, Iran.
JULY 5, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. COUPLE HANGED FOR MURDER
an Iranian couple, Roya, 28, and Mohammad, 30, accused of murder were hanged at dawn in the main prison in Isfahan (central Iran), according to a state-run daily.
JULY 5, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN CONVICTED OF RAPE HANGED IN PUBLIC
an Iranian man convicted of rape was hanged in public in Salmas, northwestern Azarbaijan province, the Shargh daily reported.
- JULY 3, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. KURDISH SINGER THREATENED WITH STONING
Nazi Azizi, a female poet from the Iranian city of Mahabad, was summoned by Iranian intelligence services for investigation and was told that she could no longer sing or write poems.
- JUNE 30, 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...
- JUNE 24, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
Teheran's criminal court sentenced a woman and a young man...
Teheran's criminal court sentenced a woman and a young man who together had killed the women's elderly husband, to death
JUNE 20, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. COUNTRY STILL STONING WOMEN, SAYS NOBEL LAUREATE
Shirin Ebadi, a leading Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Laureate, said that the hardline Islamic regime was still using medieval punishments on its people, including the stoning of women for adultery and the torture of dissidents.
- JUNE 12, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. CONVICTED SERIAL KILLER HANGED PUBLICLY
Yaghoub Ali Mirshekari, an Iranian man convicted of killing 10 truck drivers to steal their vehicles, was hanged in public in the southeastern city of Zahedan.
JUNE 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN SENTENCED TO HAVE EYES GOUGED OUT FOR TEENAGE CRIME
Iran’s State Supreme Court has upheld a sentence for a young man’s eyes to be gouged out and sprayed with acid, for blinding another man at the age of 16 some 12 years ago.
JUNE 7, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. BLOGGER FACES DEATH
organization Reporters Without Borders asked all bloggers to support 25-year-old Mojtaba Saminejad in Iran.
JUNE 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. REGIME SENTENCES 13 PRISONERS IN AHWAZ TO DEATH, AMPUTATION AND LONG-TERM IMPRISONMENT
a group of Iranians were handed down harsh sentences ranging from execution and amputation of limbs to lashes and prison time, accused of armed robbery, according to today’s edition of the state-run Kayhan daily.
JUNE 4, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO MEN HANGED FOR TRAFFICKING OPIUM
two Iranian men convicted of drug trafficking were hanged in a prison in the southern city of Kerman.
JUNE 1, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE AFGHANS CONVICTED OF RAPE PUT TO DEATH BY HANGING
three Afghans convicted of raping an Iranian woman and stealing a sheep were hanged in the southern town of Ravar in Iran’s Kerman province. The three men -- identified as Nazar Mohammad, Kheyrollah, and Besmellah -- were reported to have been in the Isla
- MAY 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...
- MAY 28, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. ISLAMIST VIGILANTE SENTENCED TO DEATH
a member of an Islamist vigilante group convicted of a string of murders in Iran was sentenced to death while five other gang members were handed long prison terms.
- MAY 25, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED
a young man was hanged in public in the southern Iranian city of Ahwaz, accused of armed robbery and disturbing the peace.
- MAY 23, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
the death sentence of four accused of murder...
the death sentence of four accused of murder...
- MAY 23, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
Tehran's 71st criminal branch sentenced four people to death. No further details were given
Tehran's 71st criminal branch sentenced four people to death. No further details were given
MAY 22, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. CONVICTED RAPIST HANGED PUBLICLY
Rahmatollah Ghanbarzehi Gorgich, an Iranian man convicted of raping a female student, was hanged in public in the southeastern city of Zahedan, in the Sistan-Baluchestan province.
- MAY 18, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. JUDICIARY DENIES STONING VERDICT FOR LOVER'S MURDERESS
judiciary denied newspaper reports that a mother of two who strangled her lover had been sentenced to death by stoning, saying sentence had yet to be passed in the case.