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
- 9,218
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 9,218 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 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
- 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