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
- JUNE 17, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian identified as Majid was sentenced to execution
An Iranian identified as Majid was sentenced to execution
- JUNE 16, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Siavosh was hanged in jail in Shahr Rey, Iran
Siavosh was hanged in jail in Shahr Rey, Iran
- JUNE 12, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A Tehran court condemned a man to death
A Tehran court condemned a man to death
- JUNE 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted murderer -identified as Mostafa R
A convicted murderer -identified as Mostafa R
- JUNE 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said that any...
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said that any trade agreement between the European Union and Iran would have to include provisions on human rights and the global fight against terrorism
- JUNE 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said that any...
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said that any trade agreement between the European Union and Iran would have to include provisions on human rights and the global fight against terrorism
- JUNE 11, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tehran sentenced a man to death
A court in Tehran sentenced a man to death
- JUNE 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hossein Najafi, a convicted murderer was hanged in...
Hossein Najafi, a convicted murderer was hanged in a prison in the northeatern holy city of Mashhad, the daily Qods said
- JUNE 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Rasoul Imani, 63, was hanged in jail in Tabriz, Iran
Rasoul Imani, 63, was hanged in jail in Tabriz, Iran
- JUNE 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Three men were sentenced to execution in Abadan, Iran
Three men were sentenced to execution in Abadan, Iran
- JUNE 9, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Mohammed A
Mohammed A
- JUNE 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A Tehran court sentenced five men to death
A Tehran court sentenced five men to death
- JUNE 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hassan Mousavi, a convicted killer, was publicly hanged...
Hassan Mousavi, a convicted killer, was publicly hanged in the western town of Malayer
- JUNE 2, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Three men - Javad Akbarpour, Jaber Talebi and Hassan...
Three men - Javad Akbarpour, Jaber Talebi and Hassan Afgani - were hanged in prison in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz
- JUNE 2, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Mashdad, Iran, handed out death sentences...
A court in Mashdad, Iran, handed out death sentences to Mehsi and Hossein
- JUNE 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Karaj, near the Iranian capital Tehran,...
A court in Karaj, near the Iranian capital Tehran, passed a death-by-stoning sentence on Shahnaz
- JUNE 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A 20-year-old man, Majid Mozaffari, was hanged in a...
A 20-year-old man, Majid Mozaffari, was hanged in a prison in the western city of Ilam for murdering two women
- JUNE 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tehran condemned Jamal A
A court in Tehran condemned Jamal A
- MAY 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Shaaban Ali, a man who killed his wife and brother-in-law...
Shaaban Ali, a man who killed his wife and brother-in-law in January was publicly hanged in the western town of Malayer
- MAY 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian military court spared the lives of two secret...
An Iranian military court spared the lives of two secret agents sentenced to death in 2001 for the murder of a dissident and his wife, Iran's IRNA news agency reported
- MAY 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Farhad was hanged in public in the ancient central...
Farhad was hanged in public in the ancient central Iranian city of Isfahan
- MAY 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Rahim Amiri, an Afghan national, was hanged in public...
Rahim Amiri, an Afghan national, was hanged in public in Semnan, Iran
- MAY 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tehran sentenced Mohammed Baksheh to execution
A court in Tehran sentenced Mohammed Baksheh to execution
- MAY 22, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Shirzad Gholami, a convicted murderer was publicly...
Shirzad Gholami, a convicted murderer was publicly hanged in Karaj, west of the capital Tehran
- MAY 21, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Khorasan daily announced the upcoming execution...
The Khorasan daily announced the upcoming execution of Ghorban M
- MAY 20, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A man condemned to die by hanging put on an amazing...
A man condemned to die by hanging put on an amazing show of defiance - by planting a kiss on the rope he was about to swing from
- MAY 20, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Five convicted armed drug traffickers were hanged in...
Five convicted armed drug traffickers were hanged in a prison in Iran
- MAY 19, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iranian newspaper Sedaye Edalat said a young man...
The Iranian newspaper Sedaye Edalat said a young man was to be hanged in public the following week in Ghale Hassan
- MAY 18, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A 40-year-old man was hanged in jail in Rajai Shahr, Iran
A 40-year-old man was hanged in jail in Rajai Shahr, Iran
- MAY 16, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Farsi language newspaper Nowrouz said 20 men were...
The Farsi language newspaper Nowrouz said 20 men were to be hanged in Tehran the following week, including Ali Goosh Shekastah
