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
- 9,155
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 9,155 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
- JANUARY 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
On December 9, 1998, another two writers, Mohammad...
On December 9, 1998, another two writers, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Ja'afar Pouyandeh, activists belonging to the Iranian writers association "Kanoon-e-Nevisandegan," were found dead on the edge of a road in Tehran
- JANUARY 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes include adultery, apostasy, prostitution,...
Capital crimes include adultery, apostasy, prostitution, drug offenses, and the production and distribution of pornographic audio and video material
- JANUARY 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
In 1999, the forced disappearances at the hands of...
In 1999, the forced disappearances at the hands of death squads continued, arousing so much indignation and anger in the country that an inquiry was opened by the Iranian Government itself
- JANUARY 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
In January, the Government arrested several secret...
In January, the Government arrested several secret service agents without giving the number and, subsequently, appointed a commission of inquiry to establish to what degree political leaders were implicated
- JANUARY 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
740 drug traffickers were executed in Iran in 1999
740 drug traffickers were executed in Iran in 1999