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
- OCTOBER 20, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Five men convicted of drug smuggling and murder were...
Five men convicted of drug smuggling and murder were publicly hanged in the southern Iranian city of Bam, the Jomhuri Eslami newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 19, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's judiciary moved to dispel speculation that jailed...
Iran's judiciary moved to dispel speculation that jailed dissident Hashem Aghajari had once again been sentenced to death, press reports said
- OCTOBER 19, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Houshang Rostami, an Iranian man convicted of murder,...
Houshang Rostami, an Iranian man convicted of murder, was executed in a prison in Iran's western province of Ilam
- OCTOBER 18, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Thousands of Iranians demonstrated in the German city...
Thousands of Iranians demonstrated in the German city of Dortmund in support of the leader of the Iranian opposition movement, the People's Mujahedeen, under investigation in France over alleged terrorist links
- OCTOBER 16, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in the southern Iranian city of Kerman condemned...
A court in the southern Iranian city of Kerman condemned a gang of six men to hang publicly for committing a series of murders in a bid to clean up on social vices, the Etemad newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 13, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The European Union issued a blistering attack on Iran's...
The European Union issued a blistering attack on Iran's human rights record but stopped short from agreeing to table or co-sponsor a United Nations General Assembly resolution that would single out Iran for its human rights violations
- OCTOBER 13, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The European Union issued a blistering attack on Iran's...
The European Union issued a blistering attack on Iran's human rights record but stopped short from agreeing to table or co-sponsor a United Nations General Assembly resolution that would single out Iran for its human rights violations
- OCTOBER 11, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi called...
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi called for an end to Islamic punishments in her country and their replacement by modern penalties "as in all democratic countries"
- OCTOBER 10, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain greets the award of the Nobel Peace...
Hands Off Cain greets the award of the Nobel Peace prize to Iranian lawyer and activist Shirin Ebadi
- OCTOBER 9, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian court sentenced Mohammad Ali Firouzi, a...
An Iranian court sentenced Mohammad Ali Firouzi, a 34 year old man convicted of serial raping children, to eight death sentences and 173 lashes, the judge in charge of the case said
- OCTOBER 8, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Zinat al-Sadat, a 34 year old nurse convicted of murder,...
Zinat al-Sadat, a 34 year old nurse convicted of murder, was executed by hanging in a Tehran prison, the Etemad newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 5, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man identified as Mohammad A
An Iranian man identified as Mohammad A
- OCTOBER 1, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in...
Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in at least two of the cases, having contacts with outlawed political organisations, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a statement
- OCTOBER 1, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Iranian MPs wrote to the head of the judiciary...
Three Iranian MPs wrote to the head of the judiciary calling for the freeing of Afsaneh Noruzi, a young woman sentenced to death for killing a man who was attempting to rape her, press reports said
- OCTOBER 1, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
A 19-year-old identified only as Alireza was executed...
A 19-year-old identified only as Alireza was executed in the southwestern town of Marvdasht, the Yas-e No paper reported
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
It was reported Iran's judiciary drafted a bill which...
It was reported Iran's judiciary drafted a bill which would raise the minimum age for death sentences to 18 from 15
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Hasan Yousefi, an Iranian man convicted of murdering...
Hasan Yousefi, an Iranian man convicted of murdering four people, was publicly hanged in a square in the north-western city of Maragheh, the Kayhan newspaper reported, quoting a statement from the West Azarbaijan province's judiciary
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in...
Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in at least two of the cases, having contacts with outlawed political organisations, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a statement
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
A young Iranian man, identified only as Arash, was...
A young Iranian man, identified only as Arash, was sentenced to death for murdering a young woman, identified as Mamak, who he had met over the Internet but who rejected his proposals of marriage
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Farzad Jalali, a convicted rapist, was executed by...
Farzad Jalali, a convicted rapist, was executed by hanging in the south-western Iranian town of Khoramabad, the Kayhan newspaper reported
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
A 38 year old Iranian man identified as A
A 38 year old Iranian man identified as A
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Nasser Shiragha, the head of a convicted gang of armed...
Nasser Shiragha, the head of a convicted gang of armed robbers, was hanged in Tehran, the official Iran paper reported, adding that 11 other members of the group would also soon be executed
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The Union of Kurdistan Revolutionaries (UKR), an Iranian...
The Union of Kurdistan Revolutionaries (UKR), an Iranian Kurdish opposition group, accused Turkey of handing over 16 Iranian Kurdish dissidents to the Tehran government, putting their lives at risk
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's supreme court has overturned the death sentences...
Iran's supreme court has overturned the death sentences of six men convicted of Islamist vigilante murders (see 'The death penalty for violent crimes' May 11, 2003)
- AUGUST 23, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran hanged 10 drug smugglers and armed robbers in...
Iran hanged 10 drug smugglers and armed robbers in the southern province of Kerman, the conservative Jam-e Jam newspaper reported
- AUGUST 21, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Iranian men were hanged in prison in Karaj, western...
Three Iranian men were hanged in prison in Karaj, western Tehran, for drug trafficking, a government-sponsored daily reported
- AUGUST 19, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
A statement from the Kerman province judiciary said...
A statement from the Kerman province judiciary said that "Mohammad-Zaman-Q
- JULY 31, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The government daily Iran reported that two young Iranians...
The government daily Iran reported that two young Iranians found guilty of killing nine women after robbing them in the eastern town of Arak were handed multiple death sentences
- JULY 30, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Lista Bonino MEPs deposited an urgent interrogation...
Lista Bonino MEPs deposited an urgent interrogation to the Commission and the Council regarding the recent execution of a university student in Iran
- JULY 30, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Lista Bonino MEPs deposited an urgent interrogation...
Lista Bonino MEPs deposited an urgent interrogation to the Commission and the Council regarding the recent execution of a university student in Iran