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
- 9,146
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 9,146 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
NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Noushad Amiri executed in Qazvin on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sadegh Rafiei executed in Isfahan on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Saye-Afkan and Mehrdad Pourhassan executed in Rasht on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid Yousefzahi executed in Shiraz on November 26
NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mina Sadoughi (woman) and Farrokh Pourfarzi executed in Shiraz on November 26
NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Farhad Heydar and Mohammad-Hossein Khazaei executed in Ghezel-Hesar on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hormoz Nejati executed in Esfarayen on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on November 26
Mohammad Dadkhah, Sadegh Rafiei, and Maziar Abbasi-Rad
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 men executed in Shiraz on November 26
Hamid Yousefzahi, Naser Karbakhsh, Ahmad Soltani, and Majid Khakzad
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Bahman Salehi executed in Aligudarz on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Kaabi executed in Borazjan on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Amini executed in Bukan on November 26
NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 7 executions in Shiraz on 26 November
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed Khani executed in Malayer on November 26
NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mustafa … executed in public in Bastam on November 25
NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amin Chahar-Bashi executed in Gorgan on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Fathipour and Amin Chaharbashi executed in Gorgan on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Gholamali Eftekhari executed in Neyshabur on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Karam Yousefian and Heshmat Shiravand executed in Khorramabad on November 25
NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Ajoudani executed in public on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Karim Rafiei executed in Zanjan on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Behzad Alipour executed in Behbahan on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Shahram Shamsi executed in Ardabil on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 unidentified men executed in Yazd on November 25
NOVEMBER 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - On November 22 Iran surpassed 1,700 executions in 2025
- NOVEMBER 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mirza Janalizadeh executed in Arak on November 23
- NOVEMBER 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amir Nosrat Piryan executed in Bam on November 23
NOVEMBER 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rahman Moloudi executed in Ahvaz on November 23
- NOVEMBER 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Hossein Akbari executed in Dezful on November 23
NOVEMBER 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mousa Golpayegani executed in Semnan on November 23