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
JANUARY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jafar Fallah executed in Semnan on January 12
JANUARY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Pouya Asgari executed in Arak on January 12
JANUARY 12, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Italy releases Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi
Iranian national detained on terrorism charges
JANUARY 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Pakhshan Azizi is one step away from execution
JANUARY 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Samad Najar-Asl executed in Isfahan on January 9
JANUARY 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - List of 54 Political and Security Prisoners on Death Row
JANUARY 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on January 9
Behrouz Ghasemi, Houshang Shahi, Samad Najjar Asl
JANUARY 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Norouzi executed in Qom on January 9
- JANUARY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sixth execution reported in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on Jan. 8
An unidentified Afghan
JANUARY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamid Ashna (Noutizehi) executed in Kerman on January 8
JANUARY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdorrahman Boroumand Center Year-End report
Iran Executed At Least 938 in 2024
JANUARY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Milad Baoo Dieselabadi executed in Sari on January 8
- JANUARY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Death Sentence upheld for Pakhshan Azizi
Kurdish political prisoner
JANUARY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Karaj (Ghezel-Hesar) on January 8
Salman Bozorgmehr, Reza Azizian, and Ashkan Pirian + 2 Unk
JANUARY 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released
JANUARY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Kermanshah on January 7
Mozafar Shahsavari, Mohammad Shahidi, and Ashkan Kazemi
- JANUARY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Alireza Mehrabadi executed in Sabzevar on January 7
JANUARY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Volker Türk "deeply troubled by the marked increase in executions in Iran in 2024"
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
JANUARY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentences for Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani
Political prisoners accused of belonging to the PMOI
JANUARY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran HRM Year-End report
Iran Executed At Least 993 in 2024
JANUARY 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN Farman Afristam executed in Kermanshah on January 7
- JANUARY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Saadi executed in Ahvaz on January 6
JANUARY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Atin and Reza Seyedi executed in Mahabad on January 6
JANUARY 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Year-End Report on Women
31 women executed in 2024
JANUARY 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Peyman Bahmanyari execeted in Ganaveh on January 5
- JANUARY 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Khalil Alizahi e Amir Mohammad Farahani executed in Shiraz on January 5
JANUARY 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abolfazl Azadi executed in Hamedan on January 5
- JANUARY 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sajad Arzandeh and Mohammadreza Hosseinzadeh executed in Shiraz on January 5
JANUARY 5, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khalil Alizahi (Sargolzahi) and Amir-Mohammad Farahani executed in Shiraz on January 5
JANUARY 4, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran News Update Year-End report
Iran Executed At Least 997 in 2024