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
- 8,611
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 8,611 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
NOVEMBER 27, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Morteza Pashayi executed in Tabriz on November 27
- NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ehsan Basati Valiabad executed in Karaj (Central) on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amirhossein Rahimi and Ali Rostami executed in Isfahan on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jafar Mirzaqassemi executed in Zanjan on November 26
- NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on November 26
Amin Maleki, Mehdi Shirvani and Fardin Abdollahi
NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Farhad Khosrawi Sadkharv executed in Gorgan on November 26
NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ehsan Basati Valiabad executed in Karaj (Central) on November 26
NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Uncertainty Surrounding 17-Year-Old Negar Dabbaghi's case
Arrested on November 13
NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jahangir (Moslem) Rahimi executed in Saqqez on November 26
NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jamshid Taherkhani executed in Qazvin on November 26
NOVEMBER 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Gholam Alipour executed in Qazvin on November 26
- NOVEMBER 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Reza Shahbazi Khalari executed in Shiraz on November 25
- NOVEMBER 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Alireza Nourian executed in Mashhad on November 25
NOVEMBER 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Student Activist Leila Hosseinzadeh sentenced to Prison
For appearing unveiled at the University of Tehran
- NOVEMBER 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj (Central) on November 25
Ashkan Moradi, Jalal Haj Babayi, and Davood Heidari
NOVEMBER 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Shahbazi Khalari and Nezamoddin Nouralhagh executed in Shiraz on November 23 and 25
NOVEMBER 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj (Central) on November 25
Ashkan Moradi, Jalal Haj Babay and Davoud Heidari
- NOVEMBER 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hossein Souri and Moslem Jafari executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on November 24
NOVEMBER 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehran Hassan Zadeh and Hamid Abdollah Zadeh Sentenced to Death
Political Prisoners
NOVEMBER 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Fariba Maleki Shiravand hanged in Khorramabad on November 24
Female prisoner
NOVEMBER 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Two unidentified Afghan nationals executed in Ghezel Hesar on November 24
NOVEMBER 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nader Ghanizadeh executed in Jiroft on November 23
780 executions in Iran in 2024
- NOVEMBER 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Nasser Ghabel Salmani executed in Jiroft on November 23
NOVEMBER 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Roshanak Molaei Flogged in Qarchak for Violating Hijab Laws
NOVEMBER 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Statement condemning the death sentences handed down in Iran
Highlighting the cases of political activists Varisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi
NOVEMBER 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Meysam Nouri executed in Hamedan on November 21
NOVEMBER 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jailed rapper Toomaj Salehi urges fellow activist Hossein Ronaghi to end hunger strike
NOVEMBER 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Hamedan on November 21
Arslan Habibi, Jabbar Keyfari, and Amir-Hossein Rostami, who was a minor
NOVEMBER 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Jafari executed in Shahrekord on November 21
- NOVEMBER 20, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Majid Talebian and Morteza Daneshvand executed in Tabriz on November 20