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
- NOVEMBER 24, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Leading Iranian reformists warned students that powerful...
Leading Iranian reformists warned students that powerful conservatives planned to impose emergency rule if university demonstrations against a dissident's death sentence got out of hand
- NOVEMBER 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Mashhad, capital city of the northeastern...
A court in Mashhad, capital city of the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan, sentenced 12 members of the 'Vultures' gang to death on various charges
- NOVEMBER 22, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling...
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the suspension of the death sentence on university professor Hashem Aghajari and also called for closer cooperation between the EU and the Islamic Republic in human rights issues
- NOVEMBER 22, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling...
The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the suspension of the death sentence on university professor Hashem Aghajari and for closer cooperation between the EU and the Islamic Republic in human rights issues
- NOVEMBER 22, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a...
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a wave of student protests was the work of pro-US enemies of the Islamic state and warned they would be suppressed if necessary
- NOVEMBER 21, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's reformist allies...
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's reformist allies said they could push for a rare referendum if two bills challenging the hardliners' grip on power were vetoed by conservatives
- NOVEMBER 17, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Students claimed a victory for freedom of speech as...
Students claimed a victory for freedom of speech as Iran's supreme leader ordered a review of the death sentence against dissident academic Hashem Aghajari
- NOVEMBER 16, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man convicted of murder and robbery was...
An Iranian man convicted of murder and robbery was hanged in a prison near the capital Tehran, the Seday-e-Edalat newspaper reported
- NOVEMBER 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hundreds of hardline demonstrators in Tehran called...
Hundreds of hardline demonstrators in Tehran called for the execution of Hashem Aghajari, a popular academic and ally of President Mohammad Khatami sentenced to death for blasphemy
- NOVEMBER 14, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The central council of the Islamic Students Association...
The central council of the Islamic Students Association of Shahid Saduqi's Medical Science University in Yazd sent an open letter to Ayatollah Hashemi-Shahrudi, calling on him to resign from his post as head of the Judiciary, following the death sentence
- NOVEMBER 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Embattled President Mohammad Khatami broke his silence...
Embattled President Mohammad Khatami broke his silence over the sentencing to death for blasphemy of Hashem Aghajari, a prominent academic and close ally
- NOVEMBER 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
State prosecutor-general Ayatollah Abdolnabi Namazi...
State prosecutor-general Ayatollah Abdolnabi Namazi said that the dossier of Hashem Aghjari should go through its legal procedure and that everyone should accept the final verdict of the law
- NOVEMBER 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hashem Aghajari refused to appeal his sentence in a...
Hashem Aghajari refused to appeal his sentence in a defiant challenge to the Islamic republic's hardline judiciary, his lawyer said
- NOVEMBER 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Around 2,500 students gathered at a Tehran university...
Around 2,500 students gathered at a Tehran university burst into prolonged applause when a speaker announced Hashem Aghajari's decision not to appeal his death sentence for blashpemy
- NOVEMBER 12, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man found guilty of kidnapping and rape...
An Iranian man found guilty of kidnapping and rape was publicly hanged in the central holy city of Qom, the Abrar newspaper reported
- NOVEMBER 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued...
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a veiled warning he might have to call on "the forces of the people" to step in if the main pillars of Iran's power structure were unable to solve major problems, the BBC reported
- NOVEMBER 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's hardline-controlled judiciary stood behind the...
Iran's hardline-controlled judiciary stood behind the sentencing to death of a prominent pro-reform academic, hitting out at parliamentary efforts to have the ruling quashed
- NOVEMBER 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Five convicted drug traffickers were hanged in a prison...
Five convicted drug traffickers were hanged in a prison in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj, Kayhan reported
- NOVEMBER 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hundreds of Iranian students protested for a second...
Hundreds of Iranian students protested for a second day, outraged at a death sentence for blasphemy imposed on a reformist academic that has ignited a battle for political control of the Islamic Republic
- NOVEMBER 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's pro-reform parliamentary majority protested...
Iran's pro-reform parliamentary majority protested against the death sentence imposed on dissident academic Hashem Aghajari, then passed the first draft of controversial legislation intended to curb the powers of their hardline opponents in the judiciary
- NOVEMBER 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Islamic Students' Society of Al-Zahra University,...
The Islamic Students' Society of Al-Zahra University, the Legal and Political Science Faculty of Tehran University, the Social Science Faculty of Tehran University and the Faculty of Science of Tehran University issued separate statements protesting the d
- NOVEMBER 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hundreds of Iranian students chanting "Political prisoners...
Hundreds of Iranian students chanting "Political prisoners should be released!" protested against Iran's hardline judiciary and Hashem Aghajari's death sentence for blasphemy in the biggest political demonstration for over three years
- NOVEMBER 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The front pages of many Tehran newspapers reflected...
The front pages of many Tehran newspapers reflected the predictable outrage that Hashem Aghajari's death sentence provoked among reformists in Iran
- NOVEMBER 7, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian court sentenced an academic and close ally...
An Iranian court sentenced an academic and close ally of President Mohammad Khatami to death for blasphemy after he questioned the right of the clergy to rule the Islamic Republic, his lawyer said
- NOVEMBER 7, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
REFORMIST SCHOLAR SENTENCED TO DEATH IN IRAN
November 7, 2002: an Iranian court has sentenced an academic and close ally of President Mohammad Khatami to death for blasphemy after he questioned the right of the clergy to rule the Islamic Republic, his lawyer said on Thursday.
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man was hanged in the northwestern city...
An Iranian man was hanged in the northwestern city of Tabriz after being convicted of drug-trafficking, IRNA reported
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain appealed to the media, political parties...
Hands Off Cain appealed to the media, political parties and citizens aware of the death penalty issue to campaign in favour of four Iranian women, who like Amina Lawal in Nigeria, were condemned to death by stoning
- NOVEMBER 5, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Two executions were carried in western Iranian city...
Two executions were carried in western Iranian city of Marivan, the scene of bloody clashes and a prison riot in September
- NOVEMBER 5, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian woman found guilty of complicity to murder...
An Iranian woman found guilty of complicity to murder survived her execution by stoning by managing to escape the hole she was buried in, the Women In Iran website reported
- NOVEMBER 4, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Afarinesh daily reported that a man was sentenced...
The Afarinesh daily reported that a man was sentenced to execution by a court in Shiraz (southern Fars Province) and the verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court