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
MAY 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Asghar Hajizadeh and Kaveh Bashangeh executed in Salmas on May 18
MAY 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ramin Saadat executed in Miandoab on May 18
Arrested at the age of 17
MAY 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 25 Kurdish executed in May
MAY 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yaser Abdollahi executed in Isfahan on May 18
MAY 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 more xecuted in Ardabil on May 18
Hatef Sha'abani
MAY 17, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Young Jewish man at risk of execution
Arvin Ghahremani
MAY 16, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Urgent action to halt the execution of Parvin Mousavi
- MAY 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 Women Nobel Peace Laureates Call To End Iran’s Execution Spree
Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Tawakkol Karman and Leymah Gbowee
MAY 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Razieh, a woman, executed in Mashhad on May 15
238 executions in Iran in 2024
MAY 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Karaj on May 15
Political prisoner Khosrow Besharat + Mohammad-Reza Rahimpour, Sirus Hayatbini, Mohammad-Karim Fazeli, and an unidentified Afghan national
MAY 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jafar Aslani executed in Qazvin on May 15
MAY 14, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Gholamhosseini and Farokh Khan Mohammadi executed in Ilam on May 14
MAY 14, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Naser Atarod executed in Qom on May 14
MAY 14, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Ghobadi executed in Shiraz on May 14
MAY 14, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Reza Jafari executed in Abhar on May 14
MAY 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - UN Demands Iran Revoke Death Sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi
An anti-corruption activist
MAY 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Rasoulof Flees Iran After Flogging, Prison Sentence
Award-Winning Filmmaker
MAY 12, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Isfahan on May 12
Masoud Estaki, Jafar Hosseinzadeh, Majid Rezaie, and Mostafa Ahgh-Mohammadi
- MAY 12, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amin Jafari executed in Isfahan on May 12
- MAY 11, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saman Jerngideh and Hamed Shahbakhsh executed in Bam on May 11
MAY 11, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A third man, not identified, executed in Bam on May 11
MAY 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Urmia on May 9
Hassan Choopani, Taher Abdolali, Hassan Arabi, and Abdollah Hassanzadeh Yangajeh
MAY 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Kerman on May 8
Fariba Mohammad-Zahi, Abdollah Ozbakzahi, and Khalilollah Brahui
- MAY 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Khan Mohammad Eshaghzehi executed in Semnan on May 8
- MAY 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging
On May 8
MAY 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdullah Azbakzehi and Khalilullah Barahoei executed in Kahnoj on May 8
- MAY 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Houshang Nourollahi Younjanlou and Mohammad Afghan executed in Gorgan on May 8
MAY 7, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hassan Moharrer executed in Urmia on May 7
- MAY 5, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Asghar Falah executed in Qom on May 5
MAY 5, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Political prisoner Mahmood Mehrabi sentenced to death
On May 5