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
- 9,149
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 9,149 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 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Mirza Gholikhani executed in Rasht on August 31
- AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Akbar Abbaspour executed in Sanandaj on August 31
- AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Yavari executed in Hamedan on August 31
AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Esmail Delavari and Armin Reyhani executed in Shiraz on August 31
950 executions since the beginning of 2025
- AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Soleiman Koushki executed in Karaj on August 31
AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamed Barahouyi executed in Zahedan on August 31
160 executions in August
- AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jasem Nouri executed in Arak on August 31
AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Urmia on August 31
Javad Ali, Rahman Javan, and Morteza Zichi
AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Esmaeil Delavar and Arman Reyhani executed in Shiraz on August 31
- AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jasem Nowruzi executed in Arak on August 31
- AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Emad Ghaedi executed in Borazjan on August 31
AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amar Hassani executed in Ahvaz on August 31
AUGUST 31, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rostam Shokrollahi executed in Taybad on August 31
169 executions in August
- AUGUST 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid Kakavand and Ahmadali Mehripour executed in Karaj on August 30
AUGUST 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Banoo Moghadam executed in Abhar on August 28
32nd woman executed in 2025
- AUGUST 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Raoufi executed in Karaj on August 28
AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 8 men executed in Karaj on August 27
Faramarz Shahbazi, Mashallah Nikoufal, Ahmadali Mehripour, Kazem Fatemi, Fereydoun Mohammadi, Hossein Biabani, Hesam Mohammadi, Ahmad Yousefi
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Ali Lashari executed in Isfahan on August 27
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Samad Seyedhosseini executed in Yasuj on August 27
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Majid Abedi executed in Semnan on August 27
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Samad Seyed Hosseini executed in Yasuj on August 27
AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Safarian Executed in Shiraz on August 27
930 executions in Iran since the beginning of 2025
AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mitra Yasamani executed in Shiraz on August 27
31st woman executed in Iran 2025
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sajad Qolizadeh executed in Sanandaj on August 27
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Milad Mohammadsalihi executed in Shiraz on August 27
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammadreza Moridan executed in Aligurdaz on August 27
- AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Arman Aghcheli executed in Gorgan on August 27
AUGUST 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Ali Lashari and Hessam Dadkhah executed in Isfahan on August 27
AUGUST 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Behzad Navabi and Asef Rakhshani executed in Birjand on August 26
AUGUST 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nawab Popalzai executed in Bandar Abbas on August 26