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
- 9,221
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 9,221 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
OCTOBER 16, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdol Nazari executed in Nourabad on October 16
OCTOBER 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Naser Mohammadi executed in Urmia on October 15
OCTOBER 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Vali Heshmatpour executed in Shirvan on October 15
OCTOBER 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir Soleimani executed in Urmia on October 15
OCTOBER 14, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Younes Akhtar Samar was executed in Jiroft on October 14
OCTOBER 14, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Kheshavehpour executed in Mashhad on October 14
OCTOBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ammar Asiyan executed in Kerman on October 13
A former police officer
OCTOBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Reza Mirzabeigi executed in Torbat-e Heydarieh on October 13
OCTOBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 men executed in Shiraz on October 13
Farhad Salimi, Ali Shirvani, Ezzat Heidari, Kazem Saadipour, Reza Namdari, and Hossein Heidari
OCTOBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdolghafour Shahoozahi + Unk executed in Birjand on October 13
OCTOBER 13, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Najari and Ali Asghar Kujavari (Kojuvari) executed in Tabriz on October 13
OCTOBER 12, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mostafa Karami executed in Sari on October 12
OCTOBER 12, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sharifeh Mohammadi's death sentence overeturned
Kurdish activist
OCTOBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Global Campaign to End Executions in Iran Gains Support from 1,500 Dignitaries Across 78 Countries
OCTOBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Asad Farhang executed in Urmia on October 10
OCTOBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men executed in Orumiyeh (Urmia) on October 10
Borhan Ansari + Unk
OCTOBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran executed at least 138 Kurdish prisoners over past Islamic year
Between 10 October 2023 and 9 October 2024
OCTOBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Maroufkhani executed in Qazvin on October 10
OCTOBER 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Maroufkhani and Hamed Jafari executed in Qazvin on October 10
- OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 6 more executions in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on October 9
OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj on October 9
Majid Afrouz, Mohammad Mashmool, and Ebrahim Sedigh
- OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on October 9
Ahmad Narouei, Mohammad Es’haqzahi, and Kamran Saghaei
OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehdi Brahooie executed in Zahedan on October 9
Likely a minor at time of offense
OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iraj Moradian executed in Gorgan on October 9
- OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hadi Fallah executed in Tabriz on October 9
OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iman Bakhshayesh was executed in Rasht on October 9
OCTOBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 unidentified men executed in Qazvin on October 9
OCTOBER 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The regime has executed more than 250 people since Massoud Pezeshkian became president
The “No to Executions on Tuesdays” campaign entered its 37th week
OCTOBER 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death Sentence Overturned for Political Prisoner Mahmood Mehrabi
- OCTOBER 7, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Unidentified man executed in Torbat-e Heydariyyeh on October 3