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 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in the northeastern city of Mashhad sentenced...
A court in the northeastern city of Mashhad sentenced to death five culprits convicted of kidnapping and rape
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian state radio reported that Nader Sepah, who...
Iranian state radio reported that Nader Sepah, who was convicted of armed robbery, "immoral acts" and clashing with security forces was hanged in public in Khorramabad, located in the western province of Lorestan
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Ettelaat newspaper reported that a drug trafficker...
Ettelaat newspaper reported that a drug trafficker found with close to a kilogram of heroin, named as Mohammad Keramti, was hanged in Tabriz jail, situated in the northwestern area of Iran
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Information Service of the Student Movement Co-Ordination...
The Information Service of the Student Movement Co-Ordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) said a person had been executed in the City of Tabriz
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian reformist legislators said they wanted to replace...
Iranian reformist legislators said they wanted to replace death by stoning with another form of punishment following European criticism of the practice
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's parliament approved a bill providing for equal...
Iran's parliament approved a bill providing for equal "blood money" compensation to be paid for the deaths or injuries of non-Muslim Iranians as Muslims, a move aimed at protecting the rights of Iran's religious minorities
- OCTOBER 31, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A medical student found guilty of kidnapping and murder...
A medical student found guilty of kidnapping and murder was hanged in public in a stadium of northern Iran, Ettelaat newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 30, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Afghans convicted of murder, armed robbery, "seducing...
Three Afghans convicted of murder, armed robbery, "seducing children" and creating public disorder were hanged publicly in the Islamic republic of Iran's city of Qom, newspapers reported
- OCTOBER 30, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
President Khatami of Iran in a joint press conference...
President Khatami of Iran in a joint press conference with the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in Madrid said political reforms in Iran were an ongoing process that Iranian society was mature for
- OCTOBER 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran said it was happy to discuss its stance on human...
Iran said it was happy to discuss its stance on human rights issues such as hanging with concerned European countries, but wouldn't change it
- OCTOBER 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Two Iranian men convicted of murder were hanged publicly...
Two Iranian men convicted of murder were hanged publicly in Tehran at dawn, one of them in a park better known as a spot for dining out or hiking, witnesses said
- OCTOBER 26, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian court, in a rare departure from traditional...
An Iranian court, in a rare departure from traditional practice that spares the life of fathers who kill their children, sentenced to death a man who cut off his daughter's head, a newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in northeastern Iran sentenced seven men to...
A court in northeastern Iran sentenced seven men to death by hanging for their involvement in a spate of kidnaps and rapes, the daily Qods newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Against the background of the Trade and Co-operation...
Against the background of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement to be negotiated with Iran in coming months, the European Union was set to open a political dialogue with Tehran on human rights
- OCTOBER 21, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's parliament began procedures to amend a law which...
Iran's parliament began procedures to amend a law which allows a murderer to escape punishment if he proves the killing was justified under the Sharia laws of Islam, a parliamentary source said
- OCTOBER 21, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The European Union was divided over calls to sponsor...
The European Union was divided over calls to sponsor a UN resolution condemning Iran's human rights record
- OCTOBER 19, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted murderer was hanged inside a prison in...
A convicted murderer was hanged inside a prison in northern city of Sari
- OCTOBER 17, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance...
The Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said that the death sentence for a woman, Taj Beigom, 45, had been sent to the "Department for Implementation of Sentences" to be carried out
- OCTOBER 16, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iranian newspaper Etemaad website reported that...
The Iranian newspaper Etemaad website reported that five people convicted of murder by Tehran Criminal Court were hanged in Tehran's Qasr Prison
- OCTOBER 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Two convicted armed Afghan robbers were hanged in Tehran
Two convicted armed Afghan robbers were hanged in Tehran
- OCTOBER 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Two Iranian thieves, convicted of a spree of some 30...
Two Iranian thieves, convicted of a spree of some 30 robberies, each had four fingers publicly chopped off in the northwestern town of Hamedan, the evening newspaper Kayhan reported
- OCTOBER 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran executed four members of a Kurdish opposition...
Iran executed four members of a Kurdish opposition party in eight days, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) said
- OCTOBER 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian women began talks with Islamic clerics to demand...
Iranian women began talks with Islamic clerics to demand that the "blood money" paid for a murdered woman should the same as for a man
- OCTOBER 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A young man convicted of rape was publicly hanged in...
A young man convicted of rape was publicly hanged in Iran's southern city of Ahvaz while his accomplice was to face the same punishment on October 17, Tehran dailies reported
- OCTOBER 14, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
In Tehran, five young taxi-drivers were sentenced to...
In Tehran, five young taxi-drivers were sentenced to death for raping a young woman, newspapers reported
- OCTOBER 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran has stepped up the number of floggings and executions...
Iran has stepped up the number of floggings and executions and introduced barbaric new punishments, amid accusations that the West is turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in seeking Iranian support for an attack on Iraq, the Telegraph reported
- OCTOBER 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Student Movement Co-Ordination Committee for Democracy...
The Student Movement Co-Ordination Committee for Democracy in Iran's Information Service reported two more executions in the central city of Esfahan, bringing the number of those executed in this city in the last seven days to three
- OCTOBER 12, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Conservative US preacher Jerry Falwell apologized for...
Conservative US preacher Jerry Falwell apologized for calling the prophet Mohammad a terrorist, saying he meant no disrespect to "any sincere, law abiding Muslim
- OCTOBER 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A personal representative of Iran's supreme leader...
A personal representative of Iran's supreme leader called for three prominent US Protestant ministers to be killed for insulting the Muslim prophet Mohammed, a report said
- OCTOBER 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The "Radio Voice of Iran" reported an execution in...
The "Radio Voice of Iran" reported an execution in the western Iranian city of Oroomiah (former Rezai-e)