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
- JANUARY 7, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian state-run newspapers reported that a prisoner...
Iranian state-run newspapers reported that a prisoner in Tehran's Qasr Prison, identified as Hamid Reza, was hanged at dawn
- JANUARY 5, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
on the orders of a judge, 15 youth dressed in prisoners' uniforms...
on the orders of a judge, 15 youth dressed in prisoners' uniforms...
- JANUARY 5, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
eighty famous Iraqi singers and musicians held song
eighty famous Iraqi singers and musicians held song
- JANUARY 5, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Mullahs’ henchmen cut off the right arm of a prisoner
Mullahs’ henchmen cut off the right arm of a prisoner
- JANUARY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Two drug traffickers were executed by hanging in the...
Two drug traffickers were executed by hanging in the north-eastern Iranian town of Ghonabad, the hardline Kayhan newspaper reported
- JANUARY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Abbas Dalili was hanged in the prison courtyard in the city of Sari, in Iran
Abbas Dalili was hanged in the prison courtyard in the city of Sari, in Iran
- JANUARY 3, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
The state-run daily, Sharq, reported that a 24-year-old...
The state-run daily, Sharq, reported that a 24-year-old woman, Kobra Rahmanpour, who had been in jail for four years, was suddenly taken to the death-row section of Evin Prison at midnight on 30 December 2003 and was told that she would be hanged in a few
- JANUARY 1, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Ali Abdollahi was hanged outside the Iranian State...
Ali Abdollahi was hanged outside the Iranian State Security Forces headquarters in the northern city of Tonekabon in front of 2,000 local residents
- JANUARY 1, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Amir Sohrab-Beig, head of the justice department in...
Amir Sohrab-Beig, head of the justice department in the south-western province of Khuzistan in Iran said, "The judiciary is taking decisive action on a large front and plans are afoot to carry out executions in public more decisively than we did in the pa
- JANUARY 1, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
two youngsters in the southwestern city of Ahwaz were sentenced to execution
two youngsters in the southwestern city of Ahwaz were sentenced to execution
- DECEMBER 28, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's announcement that it had approved equal blood-money...
Iran's announcement that it had approved equal blood-money for Muslims and non-Muslim nationals was cheerfully acclaimed by the country's religious minorities
- DECEMBER 27, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The Expediency Council (EC) approved a Majlis bill...
The Expediency Council (EC) approved a Majlis bill on equal "blood-money", or diyeh, for Muslim and non-Muslim Iranian nationals
- DECEMBER 27, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Farid Soleymani, member of the National Council of...
Farid Soleymani, member of the National Council of Iranian Resistance, political front of the armed opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization [MKO], said that the Iraqi Governing Council's decision to expel MKO members from Iraqi territory is "illegitimat
- DECEMBER 22, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The General Assembly adopted a resolution on the situation...
The General Assembly adopted a resolution on the situation of human rights in Iran, in which the Assembly expressed its serious concern at the continuing violations of human rights in Iran, the continued deterioration of the situation with regard to freed
- DECEMBER 18, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man faces a possible lengthy prison term...
An Iranian man faces a possible lengthy prison term or even the death penalty for attaching a sticker to the rear window of his car proclaiming "The era of arrogant rulers is over"
- DECEMBER 17, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Jalil Attaii, an Iranian man convicted of a murder...
Jalil Attaii, an Iranian man convicted of a murder committed on 12 July 2000, was hanged in public at dawn in the main square of the northern Iranian town of Gonbad-e-Kavoos, the Kayhan evening newspaper said
- DECEMBER 17, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami voiced...
Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami voiced his opposition to the death penalty, adding that he did not even wish for the execution of captured ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
- DECEMBER 16, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The student news agency ISNA reported that a man named...
The student news agency ISNA reported that a man named Mohsen R
- DECEMBER 14, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iran newspaper reported that man identified only...
The Iran newspaper reported that man identified only by his first name of Mahmoud was executed in a prison in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran
- DECEMBER 10, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Iranian prisoners convicted of murder were hanged...
Three Iranian prisoners convicted of murder were hanged in a jail in Tehran, one of whom killed and dissected his brother and niece, the Entekhab daily reported
- NOVEMBER 26, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The new democratic Iran that will follow the downfall...
The new democratic Iran that will follow the downfall of the current democratic regime should abolish the death penalty, even for those responsible for grave violations of human rights, HOC Board Director Antonio Stango said
- NOVEMBER 23, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man was hanged publicly in a square in the...
An Iranian man was hanged publicly in a square in the north-western city of Tabriz after being convicted of raping 23 girls ranging in age from six to 11, the Kayhan newspaper reported
- NOVEMBER 19, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The Dubai Supreme Court confirmed the June 1st death...
The Dubai Supreme Court confirmed the June 1st death sentences given to two of six Iranian drug smugglers who set fire to a boat containing two tonnes of cannabis as an anti-narcotics squad approached them off the Dubai coast
- NOVEMBER 11, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Four Iranian men found guilty of a series of kidnappings...
Four Iranian men found guilty of a series of kidnappings and rapes were sentenced to execution by stoning, the conservative Qods newspaper said
- NOVEMBER 3, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian woman condemned to death for killing a police...
An Iranian woman condemned to death for killing a police officer she says was trying to rape her has had her case sent back to the supreme court by Iran's hardline-run judiciary, press reports said
- OCTOBER 28, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's reformist parliament accused the hardline judiciary...
Iran's reformist parliament accused the hardline judiciary of a cover-up in the case of the Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in July 2003 from a blow to the head while in custody
- OCTOBER 25, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An unidentified man was hanged in Iran's south-western...
An unidentified man was hanged in Iran's south-western city of Shiraz for murdering a police officer during an armed robbery in 2002, the Javan newspaper quoted police as saying
- OCTOBER 25, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An unidentified man aged 29 was publicly executed for...
An unidentified man aged 29 was publicly executed for murder in a square in Zahedan, in southeastern Sistan-e-Baluchistan province, Iran, the Entekhab newspaper quoted police as saying, without providing further details
- OCTOBER 23, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iranian daily newspaper, Qods, reported that a...
The Iranian daily newspaper, Qods, reported that a member of a gang found guilty of rape was hanged in a prison in the Iranian city of Mashhad
- OCTOBER 22, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iranian Sharg newspaper reported that two men found...
The Iranian Sharg newspaper reported that two men found guilty of murder were hanged in Tehran's Evin prison