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, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
The daily Iranian newspaper Qods reported that Ali...
The daily Iranian newspaper Qods reported that Ali Taqizadeh, a 70-year-old man, was executed by hanging in the holy city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
The "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy...
The "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran" (SMCCDI) wrote a letter to Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, on the occasion of the 54th session of the UN General Assembly, in which they criticised President Khatami
- AUGUST 31, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Hamid Heydari was sentenced to death by Branch 12 of...
Hamid Heydari was sentenced to death by Branch 12 of the Public Court in Shahr-e Rey for the murder of a member of the Basij Resistance Force
- AUGUST 20, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Three men were hanged in Rejaii Shahr prison in Karaj...
Three men were hanged in Rejaii Shahr prison in Karaj on charges of armed robbery
- AUGUST 20, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Abdol-Hossein Mobaraki, 28, received a death sentence...
Abdol-Hossein Mobaraki, 28, received a death sentence on charges of stabbing to death Abbas Shoja-Khah, 55, whilst committing a burglary in the victim's apartment
- AUGUST 20, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
A man identified as Mohammad received two death sentences...
A man identified as Mohammad received two death sentences for murdering his sister and nephew in Autumn, 1999
- AUGUST 12, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Kiumars Hatami, Saeed Yusef-Beigi and Parviz Safari...
Kiumars Hatami, Saeed Yusef-Beigi and Parviz Safari were reported to have been executed by hanging by the local newspaper Jaam-e Jam
- JULY 29, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
A man identified as Abbas, was sentenced to death for...
A man identified as Abbas, was sentenced to death for stabbing Amir Fazli-nejad to death in March, 2000
- JULY 23, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Majid Afshari, 20, convicted of stabbing an 18-year-old...
Majid Afshari, 20, convicted of stabbing an 18-year-old friend to death and Seyed Ismail-Zendeh and his wife Ayda Shafiie, convicted of double murder, were executed by hanging in Tehran prison
- JULY 16, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Mohammadreza Rowshan received 3 death sentences after...
Mohammadreza Rowshan received 3 death sentences after he was found guilty of killing three policemen, Ali Kiani, Alibaba Khosravi and Hamid Derafshi
- JULY 9, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Maryam Ayubi, 30, was found guilty of adultery with...
Maryam Ayubi, 30, was found guilty of adultery with her lover, Hossein Asna-Ashari, and of complicity in the murder of her husband
- JULY 8, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran executed six drug traffickers convicted of smuggling...
Iran executed six drug traffickers convicted of smuggling several tonnes of opium and morphine
- JULY 6, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
A 23-year old man identified as Hassan was sentenced...
A 23-year old man identified as Hassan was sentenced to death in Tehran for murdering Manuchehr M
- JUNE 24, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence passed...
Iran's Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence passed on Soussan Hajirian, 42, who had been convicted of murdering her ex-husband after he beat the couple's children
- JUNE 24, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Abbas Yar-Ali, 35, accused of kidnapping and assaulting...
Abbas Yar-Ali, 35, accused of kidnapping and assaulting 13 girls (aged 4 to 9) over a period of 7 years (1989-1996), was hanged in Ghasr prison, Tehran
- JUNE 19, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Abdollah Rasouli, 31, convicted of killing his pregnant...
Abdollah Rasouli, 31, convicted of killing his pregnant wife on January 23, 2000 was sentenced to death
- JUNE 15, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Molla Nasrollahi, Ali Rad, 27, Abbas Dasht-Peyman,...
Molla Nasrollahi, Ali Rad, 27, Abbas Dasht-Peyman, 22, and M
- JUNE 11, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Keyvan Najafi, convicted of murdering Hossein Soleimani,...
Keyvan Najafi, convicted of murdering Hossein Soleimani, was sentenced to death in Tehran
- JUNE 11, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Anoushirvan Rezaiee, convicted of murdering Amir Zarei...
Anoushirvan Rezaiee, convicted of murdering Amir Zarei in Autumn 1999, was sentenced to death in Tehran
- JUNE 10, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Abbas Mahmoudi, convicted of a murder that took place...
Abbas Mahmoudi, convicted of a murder that took place in 1994, was executed in public in the village of Shaam Asbi (near Ardebil)
- JUNE 6, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Javad Haddadi was sentenced to 99 lashings and death,...
Javad Haddadi was sentenced to 99 lashings and death, and Batoul Ahmadi was sentenced to 99 lashings and 15 years for killing Batoul's husband, Javad Ahmadi
- MAY 31, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Mohammad Sorour Al Kouze'i, a 40-year old Afghan, was...
Mohammad Sorour Al Kouze'i, a 40-year old Afghan, was executed on the Garmseer bridge in public in the town of Taft
- MAY 23, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Alireza Karami Kheyrabadi, convicted on charges of...
Alireza Karami Kheyrabadi, convicted on charges of hijacking a passenger plane to Iraq in 1993, was sentenced to death
- MAY 10, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Hossein Habibpour, 23 and Davoud Zak, also known as...
Hossein Habibpour, 23 and Davoud Zak, also known as Kianoush, were hanged in Qasr prison, Tehran, on charges of murder
- MAY 10, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Mahmoud F
Mahmoud F
- MAY 9, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Four Iranians were sentenced to death in Kuwait for...
Four Iranians were sentenced to death in Kuwait for drug smuggling
- MAY 8, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
A woman by the name of Zeinab-ol Sadat, also known...
A woman by the name of Zeinab-ol Sadat, also known as Soudabeh, was handed two death sentences for killing a 70 year old man, to whom she was "temporarily wed" and his 12 year old grandson
- MAY 7, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Mohammad-Reza and Mohammad-Bagher were sentenced to...
Mohammad-Reza and Mohammad-Bagher were sentenced to death, and 74 lashings, for murdering a man in the course of an armed robbery
- MAY 4, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
A man identified as Mohammad was sentenced to death...
A man identified as Mohammad was sentenced to death for killing his brother in law in Khavaran, near Tehran
- APRIL 30, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved...
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the commutation of death sentences against Mehrdad Sohrabi, Ahmad Batebi, Abbas Deldar and Akbar Mohammadi for their part in the student demonstrations in capital Tehran, in July 1999
