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
AUGUST 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - State TV Airs Forced Confessions of Christian Converts
AUGUST 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Davood Kashani executed in Hamedan on August 18
- AUGUST 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Omidi-Moghadam and Iman Jouzi executed in Khorramabad on August 18
AUGUST 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Behrouz Sedghi and Arash Mahjour executed in Isfahan on August 18
AUGUST 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saman Ghasemi executed in Amol on August 18
- AUGUST 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Beqlani executed in Ahvaz on August 17
AUGUST 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Younesi and Mehdi Najafi executed in Shiraz on August 17
- AUGUST 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Salar Rahimzadeh executed in Shiraz on August 17
- AUGUST 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Javad Soheili and Nader Sepahdar executed in Mashhad on August 17
AUGUST 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi, a political prisoner, has been upheld
By the Supreme Court
- AUGUST 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jafar Sadeghi executed in Rasht on August 16
- AUGUST 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Houshang Fathi and Siamand Sa’adati executed in Sari on August 16
AUGUST 13, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Javad Esfandiari executed in Hamedan on August 13
AUGUST 13, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Eskandar Bazmandegan and Mohammad Kashifi executed in Shiraz
On security-related charges
- AUGUST 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Javad Yousefi and Omid Azizian executed in Mashhad on August 6
- AUGUST 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid Sarlak executed in Dezful on August 12
- AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Khamenei orders destruction of victims’ graves
To cover up evidence of the 1988 Massacre
AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Zaker Aramesh executed in Isfahan on August 11
- AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yaser Sagvand executed in Khorramabad on August 11
860 executions in 2025
AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman 2 men executed in Isfahan on August 11
Soudabeh Ghasemzadeh, Ali Mobasher, Hossein Rezaei
- AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saber Akbari executed in Navahand on August 11
AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Hosseinpour executed in Ilam on August 11
- AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Issa Mortazavi and Yaser Sogan executed in Khorramabad on 11 August
- AUGUST 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Seyed Ahmad Navabi executed in Jiroft on August 11
AUGUST 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hesam Salari executed in Saravan on August 10
- AUGUST 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Kiomars Fatehi executed in Zanjan on August 10
- AUGUST 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmadreza Torkashvand + Unk executed in Arak on August 10
- AUGUST 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmadreza Tarkashun executed in Arak on August 10
AUGUST 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Bahman Ejbari (Shibak) executed in Birjand on August 10
- AUGUST 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Bahman Ijbaari executed in Birjand on August 10