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
APRIL 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Faramarz Moradi executed in Ardabil on April 30
APRIL 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alireza Sargolzayi executed in Mashhad on April 30
APRIL 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Mangoli (Gorgij) executed in Birjand on April 30
- APRIL 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mousa Fazeli executed in Qom on April 30
APRIL 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran commutes death sentence for Babak Zanjani, a billionaire tycoon
APRIL 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saeed Imani executed in Khorramabad on April 30
APRIL 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Farzad Geravand and Reza Barati executed in Karaj on April 30
APRIL 29, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Isfahan on April 29
Din-Mohammad Mirakhani + 2 Unk
- APRIL 29, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mehdi Bamari executed in Kenhaj on April 29
- APRIL 29, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 5 men executed in Isfahan on April 29
Behnam Khakpour, Payam Farazandeh, Majid Gorgipour, Delagha Habib and Reza Shahsavandi
APRIL 28, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mansour Narouyi executed in Gonbad Kavous on April 28
APRIL 28, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Ghaen on April 28
Mohsen Karami (Rakhshani), … Brahui + unknown
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 PENALTY
IRAN - 2 unidentified men execute in Isfahan on April 28
- APRIL 28, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 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