82 Executions, Including 6 Women, Recorded in August; At Least 532 Hanged in Iran in 2026

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 5 September 2026: At least 82 people were executed in August 2026, including 40 for murder, 34 for drug-related offences and eight for security-related charges. Amongst those executed were six women, marking the highest monthly total recorded for female executions in 2026. Three protesters arrested in connection with the January nationwide protests were also amongst those executed.

In the first eight months of 2026, IHRNGO has recorded 528 executions, including 18 women, 20 foreign nationals and 91 ethnic minorities. The 2026 executions also include 31 protesters (29 from the January protests and two from “Woman, Life, Freedom”), 13 political prisoners affiliated with banned opposition groups and 14 espionage defendants.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the organization, stated, "Women who are executed in Iran are often victims long before they reach the gallows. Many have lived for years with structural discrimination, violence, and little or no effective legal protection. The Islamic Republic is responsible not only for taking their lives through the death penalty but also for the system of discrimination and violence that has failed them for years."

According to data verified by Iran Human Rights, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed at least 82 people in July, bringing the total number of executions recorded in the first eight months of 2026 to at least 532. IHRNGO has also received reports of more than 500 additional executions that have not been verified and are therefore not included in these statistics. The organisation only includes execution cases that include sufficient documentation or are confirmed by two independent sources. 

August 2026 executions at a glance:

• At least 82 people were executed in August 2026
• Only 10 or 12% of the recorded executions were announced by official sources. The remaining 72 executions were verified through two independent sources by IHRNGO
• 40 of those executed were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder
• 34 were on death row for drug-related offences
• 8 people were executed on national security charges. Of those, 3 were protesters, 2 were accused of espionage and/or collaboration with foreign states, 2 were convicted of armed robbery, and one of the cases is unknown
• 6 of those executed were women 
• At least 6 Baluch, 3 Kurds, and an Arab ethnic minority were amongst those executed
• At least one Afghan national was also executed during this period 

At least 532 executions were recorded between 1 January and 31 August 2026. Of the 532 executions, 270 were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder (including four protesters), 180 were on death row for drug-related offences, 71 were executed on national security charges, 10 for rape charges and the charges against one woman remain unknown. Of those executed on national security charges, 27 were protesters, 13 were political prisoners affiliated with banned opposition groups, 14 were accused of espionage and/or collaboration with foreign states, nine were convicted of armed robbery, four were accused of affiliation with ISIS and four cases are unknown. Of the recorded executions, only 77 or 14.5% were announced by official sources, while the remaining 451 executions were verified through two independent sources by IHRNGO.

Amongst those executed were at least one child offender, 18 women, 43 Baluch, 38 Kurd and ten Arab ethnic minorities, as well as at least 18 Afghan and two Iraqi nationals. Two of the executions were carried out in public spaces. 

August Records 2026's Highest Monthly Total for Female Executions in Iran

In August 2026, IHRNGO recorded the execution of six women for murder charges in Iranian prisons, the highest monthly figure recorded in 2026. Of the five known cases, four were accused of killing their husbands or fiancés. Two were in forced marriages, including one who was a child bride defending herself against sexual assault (profiled below). 

The Islamic Republic of Iran carries out the highest recorded execution of women globally while enforcing a system of gender apartheid. In 2025, IHRNGO recorded 48 executions, the highest number since the execution of women began being systematically recorded more than twenty years ago. In 2026, at least eighteen women have been executed. 

Marzieh Nayeri

Forced into marriage at the age of 17, Marzieh Nayeri was repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment by her husband's business partners, whom he routinely hosted for drinking sessions. 

At 18, when an associate attempted to sexually assault her in front of her husband, she picked up a kitchen knife in self-defence, injuring the assailant and stabbing her husband during the struggle. 

Despite her testimony under oath that she acted solely to protect her life and honour, the court rejected her self-defence claim. She was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the intentional murder of her husband. After spending nearly five years on death row, Marzieh was hanged in Qazvin Central Prison on 8 August 2026 at the age of 24. 

In January 2025, IHRNGO published its report, "Women and the Death Penalty in Iran: A Gendered Perspective", exposing the intersection of severe legal discrimination and oppressive societal factors that trap women within a punitive, patriarchal criminal justice system. 

These systemic issues leave women uniquely vulnerable, transforming marginalisation into state-sanctioned judicial condemnation.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, September 5, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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