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
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 PENALTYIRAN - 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
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nasrin Barani, a woman, executed in Isfahan on March 1
MARCH 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Ahmadpour executed in Qazvin on March 1
FEBRUARY 28, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Shoeib Rezapour Hanged on Bridge in Esfarayen on February 28
First 2025 Public Hanging
FEBRUARY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Morteza Jafari and Javad Mohammad Khani executed in Isfahan on February 27
170 executions since the beginning of the year
- FEBRUARY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamed Shiri and Enayat Rahmani executed in Rasht on February 27
- FEBRUARY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Khalili executed in Sari on February 27
FEBRUARY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Jafarpanah executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on February 27
FEBRUARY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Vatankhah (Vatan-Khah) Executed in Ardabil on February 27
- FEBRUARY 27, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hassan Mohammadi-Pour executed in Isfahan on February 27
- FEBRUARY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mir Mohammad Paridar, executed in Ahvaz on February 26
FEBRUARY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Behrooz Safari executed in Kermanshah on February 26
FEBRUARY 26, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdollah Safarzehi executed in Birjand on February 26