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
- 8,610
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 8,610 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
MAY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Gorgan on May 12
Mahboobeh Khosrow-Nejad, Firooz (Erfan) Aliyari, Safa Qaradashi
MAY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jalil Azizi executed in Arak on May 12
MAY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kourosh Jalili executed in Karaj on May 12
MAY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Hojatzadeh executed in Isfahan on May 12
427 executions in Iran nel 2025
MAY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Arak on May 12
Mohammad Abdi, Nemat Pirizali and Jalil Azizi
MAY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Abolhosseini and Asrar Amani executed in Shiraz on May 12
- MAY 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Javad Haghi executed in Yazd on May 11
MAY 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Fereydoun Mohammadi and Mohammad-Ali Miri executed in Zahedan on May 11
MAY 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran sentences another political prisoner to death: Ehsan Faridi
- MAY 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Miyaneh on May 11
MAY 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Sedighi executed in Shahroud on May 11
MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rouhollah Moradiani and Maziar Karimi executed in Karaj on May 7
MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali (Arash) Shafiee executed in Shiraz on May 7
MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jafar Pourassadi executed in Rasht on May 7
- MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ashraf Shahbazi executed in Yasuj on May 7
- MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Rasoul Rezayi executed in Yasuj on May 7
- MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Maziar Karimi executed in Karaj on May 7
MAY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Khani executed in Arak on May 6
- MAY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Manouchehr Golabi executed in Bandar Abbas on May 6
MAY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Saei executed in Tabriz on May 6
- MAY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unk executed in Shahroud on May 6
- MAY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Payam Mokhtari executed in Tabriz on May 6
- MAY 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amir Mohammad Tavakkoli executed in Hamedan on May 5
MAY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 7 men executed in Birjand on May 4
Khosrow Sarani, Mahmoud Sarani, Yousef Sorourvash, Alireza Lalouzai, Mousa Shokoohi, Mojtaba Lakzaei, and Ali Nouri
MAY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saber Eliasi (Elyasi) executed in Qazvin on May 4
MAY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Naeb Baluchi executed in Zahedan on May 4
- MAY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohsen Raeisi executed in Shiraz on May 4
MAY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Shokoohi executed in Kerman on May 4
MAY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ammar Validi executed in Ahvaz on May 4
- MAY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hassan Mirzaei executed in Zanjan on May 4