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
- 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)
- 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