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
- 8,611
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 8,611 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
JUNE 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmadreza Didban and Mozaffar Najari executed in Shiraz on June 30
JUNE 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Babak Mostafavi executed in Neyshabur on June 28
- JUNE 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 political prisoners executed on charges of espionage for Israel
- JUNE 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Israeli Air Force hit Evin Prison, symbol of political imprisonment
Victims among officers, not among prisoners
- JUNE 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on June 25
- JUNE 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 unidentified men executed in Mashhad on June 25
- JUNE 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Fereydoun Naziri and Hadi Nasri executed in Qom on June 24
JUNE 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Azim Mohammadi executed in Qom un June 24
- JUNE 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Javad Mohammadi executed in Khorramabad on June 24
JUNE 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Qom on June 24
JUNE 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh executed in Ghezel-Hesar on June 23
- JUNE 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Habib Soleimani executed in Arak on June 23
JUNE 23, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Concern for the fate of Ahmadreza Djalali
Doctor accused of spying for Israel
- JUNE 22, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hedayat Manshari executed in Ardabil on June 22
JUNE 22, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Mosayebi executed on June 22
On charges of Espionage for Israel, hours after strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites
JUNE 20, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Report on the first week of the Iran- Israel war
Hengaw special report
- JUNE 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hossein Haghverdi executed in Qom on June 18
- JUNE 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men execute in Tabriz on June 18
Hadi Ahmadian, Abbas Partovi, Mohammad Shokri
JUNE 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Shiraz on June 17
Teimur Pouladvand, Nezam Moradi, Mahmoud Dehghan and Ali Akbar Younesi
- JUNE 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Esmail Fekri executed in Ghezel Hesar on June 16
On charges of espionage for Israel
JUNE 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Nazemi executed in Ahvaz on June 16
JUNE 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Dehghan executed in Shiraz on June 16
- JUNE 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Javad Mohammadi executed in Khorramabad on June 16
- JUNE 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Davoudi and Houshang Morovati executed in Yasui on June 16
- JUNE 15, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yashar Amini executed in Yasuj on June 15
- JUNE 15, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Gonabad on June 15
- JUNE 15, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jafar Ezati (Ezzati) executed in Zanjan on June 15
- JUNE 14, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Any expression of joy at Israel's attacks will be prosecuted as a crime
- JUNE 14, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Faramarz … executed on June 14 in Kermanshah
- JUNE 14, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Joghatay executed in Sabzevar on June 14