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 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Salar Shamipour Zardkhaneh and Ali Abedini executed in Jiroft (or Tabriz) on November 13
- NOVEMBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Omid Sheikh Kanlu Milan executed in Urmia (or Salmas) on November 13
- NOVEMBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ghiam Safizadeh executed in Jiroft on November 13
- NOVEMBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Activist Kianoosh Sanjari took his own life
In Tehran on November 13
NOVEMBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on November 13
Fathollah Rashidi, Mehdi Sharif, and Hossein Faramarzi
- NOVEMBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Sharif and Hossein Faramarzi executed in Kashan on November 13
NOVEMBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Fathollah Rashidi executed in Shiraz on November 13
NOVEMBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 more people executed in Karaj (Ghezel-Hesar) on 13 November
Jafar Rahsepari, Iraj Ahadi, Sajad Shoja
- NOVEMBER 12, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Zakaria Alizehi executed in Zahedan on November 12
NOVEMBER 12, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Ali Salamat publicly executed in Hamedan on November 12
NOVEMBER 12, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 42nd week of “No to Executions on Tuesdays” campaign
- NOVEMBER 11, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamzeh Jahanian and Javad Dolabi executed in Karaj (Central) on November 11
NOVEMBER 11, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentence for Kurdish political prisoner Verisheh Moradi
- NOVEMBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 1 more man executed in Rasht on November 7
Sadegh Khorshidi
NOVEMBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saman Karimi executed in Yasuj on November 10
NOVEMBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Nabi Papalzehi executed in Zahedan on November 10
729 executions in Iran in 2024
- NOVEMBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid Soltanabadi executed in Qazvin on November 10
NOVEMBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman and 1 man executed in Tabriz on November 10
Mahrokh Khani and Kazem Babayi
- NOVEMBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Jafar Farahani executed in Neyshabur on November 9
NOVEMBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kianush Keifari executed in Rasht on November 9
- NOVEMBER 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Names of the 3 Kurdish men sentenced to death for espionage
Edris Ali, Azad Shojaei from Sardasht, and Rasul Ahmad Muhammad
NOVEMBER 7, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman and Majid Jamali executed in Rasht on November 7
- NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Individual Sentenced to Death in Urmia On Charges of “Espionage for Israel.”
- NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 2 more executions in Karaj (Ghezel-Hesar) on November 6
10 executions the same day
NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 8 men executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on November 6
Ajmal Azizi, Jalil Eghbali, Faramarz Enhesari, Mostafa Sarlak, Mohammad-Hossein Bayat, Mohammad Tajik, Sadegh … + Unk.
NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ezat Seyedi executed in Zanjan on November 6
NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Majid Alibabayi executed in Shiraz on November 6
717 executions in Iran in 2024
NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Rouzbahani executed in Khorramabad on November 6
NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iraj Shabdiz and Ali Ahmadzadeh executed in Gorgan on November 6
- NOVEMBER 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Yousef Ramezani executed in Ahar on November