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 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jafar Pourassadi executed in Rasht on May 7
MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ashraf Shahbazi executed in Yasuj on May 7
MAY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 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 PENALTYIRAN - 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
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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
MAY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Karim Farokhvand and Mahmoud Ostad Mamzayi executed in Dezful on May 1
MAY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Shiravand executed in Khorramabad on May 1
MAY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A Woman Executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on May 1
Only identified as “Saghar”
MAY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Peyman Farahavar sentenced to death
Gilak dissident poet
MAY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Darikvand and Hamzeh Alizadeh executed in Khorramabad on May 1
APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on April 30
- APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Identified the other two executed in Karaj on April 30
APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 men executed in Mashhad on April 30
Abdolghafar Barahouei, Parviz Dastkaleh, Abdolsamad Gorgij, Javid Golbacheh, Mahdi Azizi + Unk
APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad-Nabi Zirkari and Ali Kabi executed in Ahvaz on April 30
APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Moslem Darvishipour and Mohammad Salamat executed in Ahvaz on April 30
- APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Houshang Abbasi executed in Tabriz on April 30
APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Three more people executed in Ghezel Hesar on April 30
Unidentified