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
APRIL 28, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hojat Shamskhani and Rashed Baluchi executed in Bandar-Abbas on April 28
Notwithstanding Baluchi's acute mental condition
APRIL 28, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 unidentified men execute in Isfahan on April 28
APRIL 28, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sohrab Rafieian and Morteza Azimi executed in Zanjan on April 28
APRIL 27, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Call for Urgent Action to Save Reza Rasaei and Habib Deris
2 Political Prisoners Facing Execution
- APRIL 27, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Tabriz on April 27
Sohrab Hokmabad, Amir Moharami and Davoud Namiari
APRIL 27, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iraj Sanambari executed in Arak on April 27
APRIL 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman and 2 men executed in Karaj on April 25
The woman identified only as Sahar, or Shahnaz
APRIL 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Farzad Khademi executed in Saqqez on April 25
APRIL 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Toomaj Salehi, a protest rapper, sentenced to death
APRIL 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj on April 24
Shahram Sharghi, Ali Reza Aghaei and Pezhman Azizi
APRIL 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yavar Aminkhah executed in Saveh on April 24
- APRIL 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Javad Asgari executed in Arak on April 24
- APRIL 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hossein Ali Sobhani executed in Gorgan on April 23
APRIL 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iranian Rapper's Death Sentence Changed To 5 Years In Prison
Kurdish dissident rapper Saman Yasin was arrested during nationwide protests in 2022
APRIL 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Abdolbari Pashtu and Alireza Pourshahbaz (Shahbaz) executed in Karaj on April 21
APRIL 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Taybad on April 21
Esmaeil Esmaeil-Zadeh, Mohammad-Amin Mohammad-Pour + Unk
- APRIL 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Khoshavaz executed in Karaj on April 21
- APRIL 21, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on April 21
Hossein Tawana Kodiani, Reza Masrour, Taleb Akbari
APRIL 20, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Kerman on April 20
Ahmadreza Miri, Shamseddin Kashani, Shokat Shehbakhsh (Darkzehi), Jamal Mardani + Unk
APRIL 20, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Jadgal and Mohammad Anjamrooz executed in Chabahar on April 20
- APRIL 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 4 men executed in Mashhad on April 18
Zaman Taheri, Salam Taheri, Gholam Ghader Samani, and Ebrahim Nour-Zahi
APRIL 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Fariborz Dadgar executed in Ahvaz on April 18
- APRIL 18, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Ali Movahedi executed in Karaj on April 18
- APRIL 17, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Two men executed in Karaj on April 17, 2024
Sadegh Tajik + Unk
- APRIL 17, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj on April 17
APRIL 17, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Valiollah Bakhtavar executed in Tabriz on April 17
APRIL 17, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amin Mousavi Bakhshayesh executed in Tabriz on April 17
APRIL 16, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Afshin Bagh-Shirin executed in Urmia on April 16
APRIL 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 unidentified men executed in Mashhad on April 15
After the traditional slowdown during Ramadan, executions in Iran have resumed at full speed
APRIL 14, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Arsalan Hashemi executed in Hamedan on April 14