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
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MAY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYRAN - Amir Ebrahimi and Rahim Amiri executed in Karaj on May 27
MAY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 70th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Zabihollah Sarani executed in Zahedan on May 26
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Morad Dalayi-Milan executed in Maku on May 26
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamid Shirzayi executed in Birjand on May 26
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jafar Panahi wins Palme d'Or at Cannes
Panahi Returned To Iran
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 women and 4 men executed in Birjand on May 26
None of them has been identified yet
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Akbar Mirzaei and Sanjar Nawabi executed in Kerman on May 26
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Abdoli executed in Dezful on May 26
MAY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on May 26
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MAY 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Rezaei and Mobarak Rahmani executed in Qom on May 25
- MAY 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Barzegari and Mohammadreza Zare Moayedi executed in Shiraz on May 25
- MAY 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Rahman Khodakarami executed in Shiraz on May 25
MAY 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Shirvani executed in Kahnuj on May 25
- MAY 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Homayoun Amjad executed in Zanjan on May 24
- MAY 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Vahid Karimizadeh and Farhad Farahnak executed in Qom on May 24
- MAY 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Tahmas Jahaniyan executed in Nahavand on May 24
- MAY 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hessam Farhadi executed in Borujerd on May 24
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Three men executed in Birjand on May 21
Naser Dahar, Ghanbar Ghaffari, Nooreddin Mohammadzadeh
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Isfahan on May 11, 14, and 21
Mohammad Amin Kolsoomi, Jafar Ghorbani, Mohammad Naeim Daneshi and Jaber Shehkaramzehi
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yasin Hosseinzadeh executed in Tehran on May 21
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jahanshah Afshari and Aleem Barahoee executed in Ghezel Hesar on May 21
- MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed Kashani executed in Hamedan on May 21
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdolrahim Nazari executed in Zahedan on May 21
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Birjand on May 21
Naser Dehar, Qanbar Ghaffari, and Nouraldin Mohammadzadeh
- MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saeed Kashani executed in Hamedan on May 21
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Arman Khanbeigi executed in Isfahan on May 21
- MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Zanjan on May 21
Ali Moharami, Kavous Golshan and Mohsen Hesari
- MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 5 men executed in Yazd on May 21
Mohammadreza Dehghan Dehnouri, Javad Rezaei, Noorveis Achak Zehi, Vali Shahrbabaki, Reza Beig