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
- MAY 20, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
The Umbrella exile Iranian opposition party, the National...
The Umbrella exile Iranian opposition party, the National Council of the Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that some 3,800 members of its Iraq-based military wing, the People's Mujahideen, must not be extradited to Iran, where they would face torture and ex
- MAY 18, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iranian parliament passed legislation introducing...
The Iranian parliament passed legislation introducing the death penalty as maximum punishment for those found guilty of human trafficking
- MAY 17, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iranian Judiciary denied having received any decree...
The Iranian Judiciary denied having received any decree from supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i to review a court ruling on the execution of jailed dissident Hashem Aghajari
- MAY 15, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian reformist academic Hashem Aghajari, whose death...
Iranian reformist academic Hashem Aghajari, whose death sentence for blasphemy in 2002 led to mass protests, is unlikely to be executed although a provincial court has upheld the sentence, his lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said
- MAY 15, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the...
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the head of the justice department to re-examine "as quickly as possible" the file on dissident intellectual Hashem Aghajari, condemned to death for blasphemy, the student news agency ISNA said
- MAY 14, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian dissident Hashem Aghajari's death sentence...
Iranian dissident Hashem Aghajari's death sentence for blasphemy will most probably be quashed by the supreme court, the student news agency ISNA said, quoting the head of the judiciary in western Hamadan province, Zekrollah Ahmadi
- MAY 13, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Iranians convicted of murder were hanged in Tehran...
Three Iranians convicted of murder were hanged in Tehran and the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iranian dailies reported
- MAY 13, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
a man named Sammy Kh. was sentenced to 80 whips
a man named Sammy Kh. was sentenced to 80 whips
- MAY 12, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Hoseyn Shari'atmadari, managing editor of the Iranian...
Hoseyn Shari'atmadari, managing editor of the Iranian daily Keyhan Persian, criticized the chief of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi for his failure to put an end to the unjustifiable death sentence against academic Hashem Aghajari
- MAY 11, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Some 600 students gathered at Tehran University to...
Some 600 students gathered at Tehran University to hear the sister of jailed Iranian dissident Hashem Aghajari, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy, denounce "religion in the service of power"
- MAY 10, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Salman Nassiri, 30, was hanged in a prison in the city...
Salman Nassiri, 30, was hanged in a prison in the city of Lahijan, northern Iran
- MAY 10, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian judge who reconfirmed a controversial death...
An Iranian judge who reconfirmed a controversial death sentence against dissident Hashem Aghajari ignored objections to the original sentence made by the Supreme Court, newspapers quoted his lawyer as saying
- MAY 9, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
The Association of the Defenders of Human Rights issued...
The Association of the Defenders of Human Rights issued a statement following the confirmation of the verdict in Hashem Agajari's case at the Iranian court of the first instance in Hamedan
- MAY 9, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
in a joint session of the cabinet and the Majlis, mullahs’ President Mohammad Khatami
in a joint session of the cabinet and the Majlis, mullahs’ President Mohammad Khatami
- MAY 6, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
according to reports from the intelligence and foreign relations offices...
according to reports from the intelligence and foreign relations offices...
- MAY 5, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
A 19 year old Iranian woman named as Leila M
A 19 year old Iranian woman named as Leila M
- MAY 5, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer expressed Germany's...
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer expressed Germany's dismay over the confirmation of a death sentence ordered against a dissident Iranian academic Hashem Aghajari
- MAY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian university professor Hashem Aghajari vowed...
Iranian university professor Hashem Aghajari vowed he wouldn't appeal against a reinstated death sentence, effectively challenging Iran's judges to execute him for criticizing clerical rule, his lawyer said
- MAY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's hardline judiciary hastened to play down a provincial...
Iran's hardline judiciary hastened to play down a provincial judge's confirmation of a death sentence for blasphemy on dissident academic Hashem Aghajari, saying the verdict was not final
- MAY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Wife of the jailed university professor Hashem Aghajari...
Wife of the jailed university professor Hashem Aghajari questioned the veracity of the death sentence issued in her husband's case
- MAY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
a man was hanged in public at 8 am Sunday
a man was hanged in public at 8 am Sunday
- MAY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran daily reported that a prisoner, 43, was hanged
Iran daily reported that a prisoner, 43, was hanged
- MAY 3, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian court reimposed the death sentence for blasphemy...
An Iranian court reimposed the death sentence for blasphemy against university professor and dissident Hashem Aghajari
- MAY 2, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
the Jomhouri-Islami reported that Hassan Pirdadeh Piranvand was hanged in public
the Jomhouri-Islami reported that Hassan Pirdadeh Piranvand was hanged in public
- MAY 2, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
a prisoner, named Abolghassem, was hanged in Salman Farsi Street
a prisoner, named Abolghassem, was hanged in Salman Farsi Street
- APRIL 28, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's hardline judiciary ordered a ban on the use...
Iran's hardline judiciary ordered a ban on the use of torture which human rights groups said the Islamic Republic's security organisations routinely used to extract confessions
- APRIL 27, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
two Iranian men named Zolfali Derebalai and Ali Derebalai were hanged
two Iranian men named Zolfali Derebalai and Ali Derebalai were hanged
- APRIL 27, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
on the order of Judge Hozan presiding the 1089th Branch of the penal court,
on the order of Judge Hozan presiding the 1089th Branch of the penal court,
- APRIL 25, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
a number of girls were arrested en masse
a number of girls were arrested en masse
- APRIL 18, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
A man named as Mehdi, 25, was hanged in Rezvanshahr, Iran
A man named as Mehdi, 25, was hanged in Rezvanshahr, Iran