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
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nader Mostafavi executed in Yasuj on May 21
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Rouhollah Gahramani executed in Tabriz on May 21
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN Mohammadreza Beiki Firoozabadi executed on May 21
In unspecified prison, Yazd probably
MAY 21, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj on May 21
Alim Barahouyi, Morteza Arayeshgar and Jahanshah Afshari
MAY 20, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Goran Qaderi executed in Sanandaj on May 20
MAY 20, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Meysam Khazaei executed in Qom on May 20
- MAY 20, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yaser Jalilian Executed in Kermanshah on May 20
MAY 20, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Dual Iranian-British national Nasrin Roshan conditionally released on May 20
Arrested for her participation in overseas protests related to the death of Mahsa Amini
MAY 20, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef Esmaeili executed in Bandar Abbas on May 20
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ebrahim Narouei and Majid Faramarzi executed in Zahedan on May 19
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Conflicting news on Tataloo's case
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified man executed in Markazi province on May 19
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Gholibeigi executed in Qom on May 19
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Zarei and Mosib Farhadi executed in Shiraz on May 19
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdullah Pashan executed in Kahnouj on May 19
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A woman, Setareh Taherlou, executed in Damghan on May 19
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali-Asghar Alami executed in Damghan on May 19
MAY 19, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdoljabar Jamalzi executed in Bandar Abbas on May 19
- MAY 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sirus Jafari executed in Kermanshah on May 18
MAY 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Asghar Baghbani executed in Nishapur on May 18
- MAY 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Sabzevar on May 18
- MAY 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Armin Bahrami executed in Karaj on May 18
MAY 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hashem Mirzaei executed in Ahvaz on May 18
- MAY 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mojtaba Mansouri executed in Yazd on May 18
- MAY 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Behrooz Fathollahi executed in Ilam on May 17
MAY 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammadvali Ahangari executed in Khorramabad on May 17
- MAY 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ahmad Bani-Asad executed in Borazjan on May 17
- MAY 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Adnan Labakpour and Reza … executed in Ilam on May 17
- MAY 15, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 8 men, 1 woman executed in Ghezel Hesar on May 15
On charges of membership in ISIS
MAY 15, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Dahmordeh executed in Zabol on May 15
450th execution of 2025 in Iran