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
- 9,218
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 9,218 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 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sharifeh Mohammadi’s death sentence commuted to 30 years’ imprisonment
Human rights defender
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Mashhad on October 29
Katayoun Shamsi (W), Saman Daliri + 1
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad-Reza Sharifi + 1 executed in Kerman on October 29
- OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Toghdari executed in Gonbad on October 29
- OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 6 men executed in Ghezel-Hesar on October 29
Zakaria Mohammad Khanlou, Javad Naeimi + 4
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Shahpasandi executed in Zanjan on October 29
- OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Majid Shahpasandi was executed in Zanjan on October 29
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Milad Koubesh executed in Ghezel-Hesar on 29 October
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hooman Azadi executed in Kermanshah on October 29
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Younes Zamani executed in Taybad on October 29
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Ekhlaspour executed in Baft on October 29
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Zahra Shahbaz Tabari sentenced to death
Political prisoner
- OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 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 PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid Babaei executed in Sanandaj on October 28
OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Moslem Hossein Zeynal executed in Bojnurd on October 28
- OCTOBER 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 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