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
JULY 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Mansouri executed in Malayer on July 9
JULY 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Tayeb Abdollahi and Naser Kazemzadeh executed in Shiraz on July 9
JULY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Rahmani executed in Ahvaz on July 8
JULY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 76th Week of No to Execution Tuesdays Campaign
In 47 Prisons Across Iran
JULY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Zanjan on July 8
Alireza Bagheri, Mehran Habibi and Esmail Valipour
- JULY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Javad Yarbigi executed in Arak on July 7
JULY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 kurdish political prisoners sentenced to death
- JULY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amin Khosravi and Saeed Asadzadeh Executed in Tabriz on July 7
- JULY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - UN Experts Warn Iran Against Renewed Wave of Repression After Ceasefire
JULY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris transferred to an undisclosed location
The French couple at the centre of yet another kidnapping by Iran
JULY 3, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri sentenced to death
JULY 3, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - French couple face death penalty on spying charges
Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris
- JULY 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jabar Pourmohammadi Maghani executed in Zanjan on July 2
- JULY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hossein Ali Abedi executed in Ahar on July 1
JUNE 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 man exewcuted in Taybad on June 30
Unidentified Afghan man
- JUNE 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmadreza Didban and Mozaffar Najari executed in Shiraz on June 30
- JUNE 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - New bill approved by parliament to punish collaborating with “hostile groups”
Death penalty for a wide range of offences
- JUNE 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Babak Mostafavi executed in Neyshabur on June 28
- 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 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 political prisoners executed on charges of espionage for Israel
JUNE 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Israeli Air Force hit Evin Prison, symbol of political imprisonment
Victims among officers, not among prisoners
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 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Fereydoun Naziri and Hadi Nasri 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