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 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted woman murderer was hanged in public in...
A convicted woman murderer was hanged in public in the northwestern Iranian province of Eastern Azerbaijan
- OCTOBER 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Two Afghan armed robbers were hanged in accordance...
Two Afghan armed robbers were hanged in accordance with the verdict of the Islamic Revolution Court in Tehran, the Iranian newspaper Kayhan reported
- OCTOBER 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian woman convicted of the murder of her sister-in-law...
An Iranian woman convicted of the murder of her sister-in-law was executed by hanging in the northwestern city of Tabriz, the Qods newspaper said, according to AFP
- OCTOBER 7, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Kurdish political activist Hamzah Qadiri was executed...
Kurdish political activist Hamzah Qadiri was executed in the Urumiyeh prison, according to an announcement from the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI)
- OCTOBER 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted Iranian murderer was spared from a public...
A convicted Iranian murderer was spared from a public hanging after he suffered a heart attack when the noose was placed around his neck, newspapers reported
- OCTOBER 2, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted murderer was publicly hanged in southern...
A convicted murderer was publicly hanged in southern Fars province
- OCTOBER 2, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted murderer was hanged inside a police station...
A convicted murderer was hanged inside a police station in the northern Iranian city of Ramsar
- OCTOBER 2, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A five-member delegation from the European Union's...
A five-member delegation from the European Union's Human Rights Commission on a visit to Iran met with Majlis representatives Mohammad Dadfar and Ebrahim Amini in Tehran to discuss issues of human rights and religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of
- OCTOBER 2, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Reports from the southern Iranian city of Lamerd, located...
Reports from the southern Iranian city of Lamerd, located in the Fars province, said two more public executions were carried out
- OCTOBER 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A man convicted of murder and armed robbery was publicly...
A man convicted of murder and armed robbery was publicly executed by hanging in the southern part of Iran, the Ettelaat evening newspaper reported, cited by AFP
- OCTOBER 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tehran sentenced two more men to death for...
A court in Tehran sentenced two more men to death for a series of rapes
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Several protesters were arrested by the Islamic regime's...
Several protesters were arrested by the Islamic regime's forces during the public executions which took place on September 29 in two different areas of the Iranian capital, the Student Movement Co-Ordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) said
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Five members of a band convicted of several cases of...
Five members of a band convicted of several cases of rape were hanged in two separate public sites in east and west Tehran at dawn
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain demonstrated in front of the UN Rome...
Hands Off Cain demonstrated in front of the UN Rome headquarters to urge the Italian government to present a censure resolution of human rights violations in Iran at the current UN General Assembly in New York
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A woman and a man were stoned to death in a west Iranian...
A woman and a man were stoned to death in a west Iranian town after 15 years of imprisonment, the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (CNRI) said
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Tehran's Justice Department has announced that next...
Tehran's Justice Department has announced that next week five members of a gang known as Karkas-ha [Vultures] will be hanged simultaneously in five different districts of Tehran
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
State-run dailies reported the execution of a woman...
State-run dailies reported the execution of a woman in Tabriz, the Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran reported in the October issue of its monthly bulletin 'Women' published on the Iran Mohajedin website
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Six men were hanged in Iran since September 16 and...
Six men were hanged in Iran since September 16 and eight others face the same sentence after being convicted on charges ranging from murder to armed robbery, newspapers said
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Rioting broke out in Mahabad, northwestern Iran, after...
Rioting broke out in Mahabad, northwestern Iran, after police killed three people smuggling alcoholic beverages, the Resalat newspaper reported
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A man convicted of murdering his wife was hanged in...
A man convicted of murdering his wife was hanged in a prison in north-eastern Iran
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) said...
The World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) said official Iranian media reported 250 executions since the beginning of 2002
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Jomhuri-Ye Eslami daily reported that a man convicted...
The Jomhuri-Ye Eslami daily reported that a man convicted of armed robbery was hanged in public in southern Iran
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man cut off his seven-year-old daughter's...
An Iranian man cut off his seven-year-old daughter's head after suspecting she had been raped by her uncle, the Jomhuri-ye Eslami newspaper said
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian court for the first time granted the family...
An Iranian court for the first time granted the family of a murdered Christian man the same "blood money", or compensation, as that of a Muslim, the official news agency IRNA reported
- AUGUST 22, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Three men were hanged in Tehran's Qasr prison after...
Three men were hanged in Tehran's Qasr prison after being convicted of murder in separate cases
- AUGUST 21, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A man convicted of blackmailing and killing two men...
A man convicted of blackmailing and killing two men was hanged in Tehran's Qasr prison
- AUGUST 21, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Ali Mazidi was hanged in prison in Tehran
Ali Mazidi was hanged in prison in Tehran
- AUGUST 19, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Rassul was hanged in public in Najaf Abad, Iran
Rassul was hanged in public in Najaf Abad, Iran
- AUGUST 19, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hassan was sentenced to death in Tehran
Hassan was sentenced to death in Tehran
- AUGUST 18, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A 17-year-old, Milad B
A 17-year-old, Milad B