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
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Valijan Nourzay and Yadollah Shamsi Hanged in Rafsanjan
AUGUST 31, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mojtaba Salahi Laghani executed in Rasht on September 2
AUGUST 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Bavi executed in Ahvaz on August 25
AUGUST 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Bikas hanged in Meshgin Shahr on August 9
MAY 24, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Omid Moradi executed in Ahvaz on May 24
A ‘minor’
MAY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hadi Alipour executed in Shiraz on May 6
APRIL 22, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Farid Executed on Espionage Charges
On April 22
APRIL 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester Amir Ali Mir Jafari Hanged on April 21
8th January Protester Execution
APRIL 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The 117th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sara Shahbazi arrested 45 days ago
Held in legal limbo
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IRGC arrests At least 127 People
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - At Least 3,646 Arrested Since Start of War
Arrests Continue Following Ceasefire
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Family Still Searches for Hamid Hossein-Nejad Heidranlou Burial Site
One Year After Execution
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nasrin Sotoudeh Remains in Intelligence Detention
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi Hanged
Political Prisoners belonging to the People’s Mojahedin
- APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Police Commander Announces Arrest of At Least 1,800 People
- APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Why Every PMOI Execution Signifies the Collapse of Regime’s Strategy to Erase the Iranian Resistance
APRIL 18, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Critical health conditions of Narges Mohammadi
And other political prisoners
APRIL 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 Kurds killed in a drone strike by IRGC
Neda Miri, Samira Allahyari, Shahin Azarbarzin
- APRIL 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 22 People Arrested for “Connections with Foreign Media”
- APRIL 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 7 Citizens Arrested for “Connections with Foreign Media and Disturbing Public Opinion”
APRIL 17, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Raouf Sheikh Ahmadi and Mohammad Faraji Sentenced to Death
Kurdish Protesters
- APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Forced Televised Confessions in 2025
- APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN A Citizen Arrested in Marvdasht for Selling VPNs
To hide Internet adresses
APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Suspicious Death in Custody of Protester Abbas Yavari
APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Manouchehr Vafaei and Navid Naghdi at Imminent Risk of Execution
- APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 2 people arrested for “contact with foreign media”
APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Woman arrested for contacts with foreign media
Accused of espionage
APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 19-year-old protester Saghar Gholami held in legal limbo
APRIL 16, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 Protesters Sentenced to Death
Majid Nasiri, Shahab Dadkhah + 1