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 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Erfan Afzali executed in Sari on October 5
OCTOBER 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Saleh Ghahremani and Fardin Firouzi executed in Qazvin on October 5
OCTOBER 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sobhan Najafi executed in Malayer on October 5
- OCTOBER 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN Saman Mohammadi Khiyareh executed in Ghezel-Hesar on October 4
Kurdish political prisoner
OCTOBER 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 political prisoners executed in Ahvaz on October 4
Ali Mojaddam, Mohammadreza Moghaddam, Moein Khanfari, Habib Dris, Adnan Ghabishavi, and Salem Mousavi
OCTOBER 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Ghadimi executed in Isfahan on October 4
- OCTOBER 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed Barahouei executed in Zahedan on October 2
OCTOBER 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran Approves Tougher Espionage Law
OCTOBER 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammadreza Shehiki executed in Iranshahr on October 2
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Five Christian Converts Sentenced to 41 Years in Prison
Hesamoddin (Yahya) Mohammad Joneydi, Morteza (Kalvin) Faghanpour Sasi, Abolfazl (Benjamin) Ahmadzadeh Khajani + 2
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Ghezel Hesar on October 1
Ali Geravand, Javad Sargazi, Sajad Mahmoudi, Hamid-Reza Maleki
- OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed Amiri and Mehrdad Shahidi executed in Kermanshah on October 1
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 187 executions in September (197 as for Hands off Cain)
Highest monthly toll in 20 years
- OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Seydi Tabaei executed in Karaj on October 1
- OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sadegh Bazvand executed in Dezful on October 1
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Kermanshah on October 1
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Mahmoud Salehi and Nader Mianji executed in Isfahan on October 1
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khosro Moradlou executed in Zanjan on October 1
- OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Khodayar Faraji executed in Birjand on October 1
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Ghezel-Hesar on October 1
Saeed Seyedi Tabayi, Mehdi Moradi and Sajad Mahmoudi
- OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Hamedan on October 1
Kamran Navabi, Soleiman Mohammadvand, and Khorram ...
OCTOBER 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Faraji executed in Sanandaj on October 1
SEPTEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Gheitarani executed in Sanandaj on September 30
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Gholamali Nazarian executed in Kermanshah on September 30
SEPTEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohsen Ashiri amputated of 4 fingers on September 30
SEPTEMBER 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Younes Mardani and Farhad Faraji executed in Isfahan on September 30
SEPTEMBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Atash Shakarami sentenced to receive 38 lashes
SEPTEMBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men sentenced to death on charges of “collaboration with the Zionist regime”
Also accused of having links with the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK)
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Bahman Choubi Asl executed in Ghezel Hesar on September 29
On charges of “intelligence collaboration” with Israel
SEPTEMBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on September 29
Milad Kiani, Mehran Jafari, and Behnam Mirahmad