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
MARCH 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 59th week of "No to execution Tuesdays"
MARCH 10, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sentences Reduced for Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi
2 young Political Prisoners
MARCH 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Saeedi executed in Zanjan on March 9
MARCH 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amin Khosravi executed in Neyshabur on March 9
MARCH 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saber Fathollahi and Zaki Zakeri executed in Shiraz on March 9
MARCH 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Javad (Afshin) Hasanvand executed in Khorramabad on March 8
MARCH 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Houshang Mohammadkhani executed in Yazd on March 8
MARCH 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ubaid Maleki executed in Khorramabad on March 8
MARCH 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - March 8: Comprehensive List of Female Political Prisoners in Iran
MARCH 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kamran Mousavi executed in Kashan on March 6
MARCH 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iman Shokrollahzadeh Executed in Qazvin on March 5
- MARCH 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jalal Ashkani executed in Hamedan on March 5
MARCH 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Yarrahi received 74 lashes
A dissident artist and singer
MARCH 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Karimkhani Al-Qalandis executed in Tabriz on March 5
MARCH 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 58th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
In 38 Prisons Across Iran
- MARCH 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ezat Zeinali executed in Ahar on March 4
MARCH 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ghasem Sarayi Executed in Qom on March 4
MARCH 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 88 executions in February in Iran
MARCH 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iraj Memari executed in Khorramabad on March 2
201 executions in Iran in 2025
MARCH 2, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - State-affiliated Sociologist Ahmad Bokharaee Admits 7,000 Await Execution
A rare and startling admission
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Seven men executed in Zahedan on March 1
Basir Roudini, Farhad Dahmardeh, Mousa Paheng, Ghasem Ghanbarzaki, Morad Sabrou, Saadollah Zarei e Asim Charikar
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men and 1 woman executed in Mashhad on March 1
Asieh Ghavi Cheshm, Mehrdad Kolbeali, Hassan Shahraki, Jalal Afaq, Masoud Yaghi Zayi (Brahui), and Aref Sediqpour
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Arsalan Pasha and Jalal Shahsavar executed in Amol on March 1
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Tavakoli executed in Jiroft on March 1
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Esmail Mozaffari and Yaghoub Mirzajani executed in Gorgan on March 1
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ebrahim and Gholamhossein Khalili executed in Mashhad on March 1
8 executions on March 1 in Mashhad
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 7 executions in various prisons on March 1
Javad and Alireza Afagh, Mohammad Araqi, Ramin Alaei, Mehrdad Asgarabadi + 2 unidentified
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - From March 1st, executions should almost come to a halt.
For the holy month of ramadan
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Fathi executed in Tabriz on March 1
- MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Abbas Bamari and Mohammad Raei executed in Birjand on March 1