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
- MAY 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Four convicted murderers were hanged in Tehran
Four convicted murderers were hanged in Tehran
- MAY 8, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Mohammed A
Mohammed A
- MAY 8, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A 42-year-old man, Nourmohammad Taheri, was executed...
A 42-year-old man, Nourmohammad Taheri, was executed in Gonabad, Iran
- MAY 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted killer was publicly executed in central...
A convicted killer was publicly executed in central city of Kashan in Iran
- APRIL 28, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hossein Butehkan was executed in Kashan, Iran
Hossein Butehkan was executed in Kashan, Iran
- APRIL 28, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A Tehran court handed out a death sentence to Fatemeh,...
A Tehran court handed out a death sentence to Fatemeh, and two unidentified males were condemned to die in Ahwaz
- APRIL 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tehran condemned to death Davoud Baghi and Saeed
A court in Tehran condemned to death Davoud Baghi and Saeed
- APRIL 26, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A woman, Ferdows B
A woman, Ferdows B
- APRIL 25, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Four convicted armed robbers were hanged in public...
Four convicted armed robbers were hanged in public in Iran's capital Tehran and another two in a prison, local media reported
- APRIL 24, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A man was hanged in public in Abadan, Iran
A man was hanged in public in Abadan, Iran
- APRIL 23, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Following the Supreme Court's approval of their sentences,...
Following the Supreme Court's approval of their sentences, a number of people will be executed in the near future for causing social disorder, Chairman of Tehran Province Justice Administration Abbas Ali Alizadeh announced
- APRIL 20, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
In an editorial on April 20, the daily newspaper Iran...
In an editorial on April 20, the daily newspaper Iran News decried the live broadcast of the execution of Sa'id Hana'i, the self-confessed murderer of 16 women, by the Islamic Republic News Broadcasting (IRIB)
- APRIL 18, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Three condemned murderers were hanged in a Tehran prison,...
Three condemned murderers were hanged in a Tehran prison, including Amir Hossein Karimi who went to the gallows for killing his 17-year-old cousin in a fit of jealous rage
- APRIL 17, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Ali Firouzi was executed in the Iranian holy city of Qom
Ali Firouzi was executed in the Iranian holy city of Qom
- APRIL 17, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A convicted serial killer who strangled 16 Iranian...
A convicted serial killer who strangled 16 Iranian women with their headscarves was hanged at a prison court in Mashdad, Korashan province
- APRIL 16, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Maurice Copithorne, a special representative of the...
Maurice Copithorne, a special representative of the UN Commission on Human Rights, pointed to instances of serious human right abuses of Iran's Azerbaijani population in his speech at the 58th session of the commission
- APRIL 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Mehdi Sayyadi, a convicted murderer, was publicly hanged...
Mehdi Sayyadi, a convicted murderer, was publicly hanged in the northeastern town of Bandar-e Gaz
- APRIL 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Mohammed Hassani, a convicted smuggler, was hanged...
Mohammed Hassani, a convicted smuggler, was hanged in jail in the northeastern town of Amol in Iran
- APRIL 10, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The number of state-sanctioned executions around the...
The number of state-sanctioned executions around the world doubled in 2001, mainly because of a crackdown on crime in China, Amnesty International said
- APRIL 8, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Kouroush N
Kouroush N
- APRIL 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Five armed bandits received 74 lashes of the whip each...
Five armed bandits received 74 lashes of the whip each in one of the major squares of the ancient central Iranian city of Esfahan for a variety of crimes including rape, armed robbery, hooliganism and disrupting public security on various occasions
- MARCH 31, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Australia is negotiating with Iran to return more than...
Australia is negotiating with Iran to return more than 200 asylum seekers who have been refused refugee status in Australia
- MARCH 18, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Author Salman Rushdie, under a death threat for years...
Author Salman Rushdie, under a death threat for years for allegedly blaspheming Islam in a novel, has not been allowed to fly on Air Canada since September 2001 and an airline spokeswoman said she could not say when the ban would be lifted
- MARCH 13, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Three men convicted of killing two people in a 1997...
Three men convicted of killing two people in a 1997 bomb attack in the northeastern city of Mashhad were executed
- MARCH 12, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A top Iranian cleric called for the trial and execution...
A top Iranian cleric called for the trial and execution of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for alleged war crimes against Palestinians
- MARCH 12, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Human rights protests mounted as Iranian President...
Human rights protests mounted as Iranian President Mohammed Khatami started the second day of his official visit to Austria
- MARCH 12, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran has set $18,750 for the "blood money" a murderer...
Iran has set $18,750 for the "blood money" a murderer can pay to his victim's family to avoid execution
- MARCH 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Mohammad Reza Kasra'i and Mir Abdolbaqi, who had reportedly...
Mohammad Reza Kasra'i and Mir Abdolbaqi, who had reportedly been sentenced to death for taking part in mass student protests in 1999 have been released after being pardoned by the esteemed leader of the revolution [ Ayatollah Khamene'i], following a reque
- FEBRUARY 28, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A 20-year-old woman named Kobra was sentenced to death...
A 20-year-old woman named Kobra was sentenced to death in Iran, state-run dailies reported
- FEBRUARY 27, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian convicted of triple murder as he robbed...
An Iranian convicted of triple murder as he robbed a family home was hanged in the northwestern province of Khorasan, an Iranian newspaper reported