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
SEPTEMBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed on September 13
Amanollah Nazarkhani, Hashem Rakhshani, Asghar Pishahang, Mohammad Mousazahi, and Yousef Abil.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khalil Afghan executed in Zahedan on September 13
SEPTEMBER 13, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Nazari and Hossein Rasoulinasab sentenced to death
2 ‘Protesters’
SEPTEMBER 12, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Marziyeh “Sevda” Ebrahimi Shamsabadi sentenced to death
A blogger and political prisoner
SEPTEMBER 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on September 9
Mohammad Yousef Issazahi, Shahrokh Pouresmaeili, and Hossein Ghasemzadeh
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammadreza Neirang Hanged in Yazd on September 9
SEPTEMBER 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ezzat Asgari Khalilshahr executed in Behshahr on September 8
SEPTEMBER 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Mashhad on September 6
Fatemeh Jahangard, Mehrdad Mokhtari, and Mohammadreza Mohammadparast
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Seyed Rasoul Davari executed in Mashhad on September 6
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Rasoul Davari hanged in Mashhad on September 6
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Reza Salimi Hanged in Semnan on September 5
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Aziz Roshanayi executed in Shiraz on September 2
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Mashhad on September 2
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmad Haji-Hassani executed in Gorgan on September 2
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yaser Momeni + 1 executed in Shiraz on September 2
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Valijan Nourzay and Yadollah Shamsi Hanged in Rafsanjan
AUGUST 31, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mojtaba Salahi Laghani executed in Rasht on September 2
AUGUST 25, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Bavi executed in Ahvaz on August 25
AUGUST 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahan Vafadar executed in Dezful on August 19
A juvenile offender
AUGUST 9, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Bikas hanged in Meshgin Shahr on August 9
MAY 24, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Omid Moradi executed in Ahvaz on May 24
A ‘minor’
MAY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hadi Alipour executed in Shiraz on May 6
APRIL 22, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Farid Executed on Espionage Charges
On April 22
APRIL 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester Amir Ali Mir Jafari Hanged on April 21
8th January Protester Execution
APRIL 21, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The 117th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sara Shahbazi arrested 45 days ago
Held in legal limbo
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IRGC arrests At least 127 People
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - At Least 3,646 Arrested Since Start of War
Arrests Continue Following Ceasefire
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Family Still Searches for Hamid Hossein-Nejad Heidranlou Burial Site
One Year After Execution
APRIL 20, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nasrin Sotoudeh Remains in Intelligence Detention