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
- 9,147
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 9,147 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
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Zahra Shahbaz Tabari sentenced to death
Political prisoner
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 unidentified men executed in Ahvaz on October 28
- OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed Hadadian executed in Gorgan on October 28
- OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Sari on October 28
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Safari executed in Bojnourd on October 28
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamid Babaei executed in Sanandaj on October 28
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Moslem Hossein Zeynal executed in Bojnurd on October 28
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Saei executed in Yasuj on October 28
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign Enters 92nd Week Across 54 Prisons in Iran
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mostafa Afshar executed in Malayer on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid Rafiei executed in Zanjan on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hesam Bastami executed in Borujerd on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed Arabian executed in Yazd on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Fereydoun Lotfi executed in Yasuj on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Malek Ali Amini executed in Nahavand on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Habib Khani executed in Qazvin on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hosseinali Montazeri executed in Semnan on October 27
- OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mostafa Afshar executed in Malayer on October 27
OCTOBER 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Overturned the death sentences of 5 political prisoners
Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, Pejman Soltani, Ali (Soran) Ghasemi, Kaveh Salehi, and Teyfour Salimi Babamiri
- OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Siavash Karimi executed in Malayer on October 20
OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Saedpanah executed in Esfarayen on October 26
- OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehrdad Moradi executed in Arak on October 26
OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Omar Zardkouhi executed in Zahedan on October 26
1390 executions since the beginning of 2025
- OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Manouchehr Mehki executed in Aligudarz on October 26
- OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on October 26
… Dehghani + 2
OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mousa Mohammadi and Mohammadreza Nazari executed in Shiraz on October 26
OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Moradi and Alireza Alimoradi executed in Hamedan on October 26
- OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Valiollah Samiei + 1 executed in Aligudarz on October 26
OCTOBER 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Samad Agha Hosseini executed in Kashan on October 26
- OCTOBER 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Asghar Manafi executed in Hamedan on October 25