Death Penalty News

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 29 August 2026: Yavar Alizadeh, Hossein Khalilian, Mojtaba Vahedi and Davod Tarkhan were executed in a group hanging in Tabriz Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 29 August 2026. Two of the men were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders by the Criminal Court. Their identities have been established as Yavar Alizadeh, a 28-year-old welder, and Hossein Khalilian, a 40-year-old florist. Yavar was arrested four years ago, and Hossein was arrested for the murder of his cousin seven years ago.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 16 July 2026: Aref Khoshkar, a “Woman, Life, Freedom” protester, a woman named Parvin Chardoli, Abbas Nesari and two unidentified men were executed for murder charges in Ghezel Hesar Prison. The mass hunger strike by Unit 2 of the prison continued for the third day. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least five people were hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on 15 July 2026. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. The identities of three have been established as Aref Khoshkar, Parvin Chardoli and Abbas Nesari.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 18 June 2026: At least eight men were executed in a group hanging in Ghezel Hesar Prison on 13 June and two men were hanged on 15 June. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least eight men were hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on 13 June 2026. They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. Three of the men have been identified as Amirabbas Dakami from Gharchak, Seyed Akbar Banihashem and Mehdi Moradian. The identities of the other five men have not been established at the time of writing.

Hengaw – Thursday, May 28, 2026 Iranian authorities have executed five Kurdish prisoners at Bukan Central Prison after they were sentenced to death on drug-related and premeditated murder charges.  Hengaw has confirmed the identities of three of the executed prisoners as Rahman Mahmoudi, Jafar Mohammadi, and Salah Jang. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out during the early hours of Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at Bukan Central Prison.

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family criminal gang, who ran mafia-like scam centers in Myanmar and killed workers who tried to escape, Chinese state media reported on Thursday.  The Ming family was one of the so-called 4 families of northern Myanmar — crime syndicates accused of running hundreds of compounds dealing in internet fraud, prostitution and drug production, and whose members held prominent positions in the local government and militia aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 23, 2025: Mahin Rashidi, Abbas Alami, Naser Faraji, Tohid Barzegar and Jamshid Amirfazli, five co-defendants on death row for drug-related offences, were secretly executed in a group hanging in Shiraz Central Prison.  According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men and a woman were hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 17 December 2025. Their identities have been established as Mahin Rashidi, a 39-year-old woman, Abbas Alami, 43, Naser Faraji, 38, Tohid Barzegar, 51, and Jamshid Amirfazli, 45, all Kashan natives.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 10, 2025: At least six men, including four Baluch minorities, were secretly executed in a group hanging in Birjand Central Prison. Ramezan Deldadeh, Behzad Mazarzehi, Ali Barahouyi, Mirzakhan Basati and two unidentified Baluch men were on death row for drug-related offences. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least six men were hanged in Birjand Central Prison on 9 December 2025. They were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Two of the men who were Baluch minorities have not been identified at the time of writing.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 3, 2025: Mahmoud Nouri, Hossein Shafizadeh and Gholamreza Bahrami, three men on death row for murder charges, were executed in Semnan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, three men were hanged in Semnan Central Prison on 2 December 2025. Their identities have been established as  Mahmoud Nouri, a 40-year-old man from Semnan, 40-year-old Hossein Shafizadeh and Gholamreza Bahrami.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 22, 2025: Karvan Abdolaziz, an Iraqi national, Yahya Karami, Saman Abbasi, Akbar Faraji and Moslem Naderi were executed for drug-related offences in a group hanging in Isfahan Central Prison. At least 11 Iraqi nationals are currently on death row for drug-related offences at the prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, five men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 18 November 2025. Their identities have been established as Karvan Abdolaziz, an Iraqi national, Yahya Karami, a 47-year-old father of two from Aligudarz, 31-year-old Saman Abbasi from Khorramabad, Akbar Faraji and 36-year-old Moslem Naderi

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 27, 2025: Mahboubeh Jalali, Kourosh Nasrollahzadeh, Farhad Hatami (Kurdish) and Meisam Bagheri, a woman and three men on death row for drug-related offences, were executed in a group hanging in Rasht Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman and three men were hanged in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 26 October 2025. Their identities have been established as Mahboubeh Jalali, a 38-year-old woman from Roudsar, 48-year-old Kourosh Nasrollahzadeh from Fuman, Farhad Hatami, a Kurdish man from Kangavar, and 35-year-old Meisam Bagheri from Karaj. Kourosh and Farhad were arrested three years ago, Mahboubeh, four years ago, and Meisam, six years ago. They were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 13, 2025: Mohammadreza Akhbari, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Yasuj Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Yasuj Central Prison on 11 October 2025. His identity has been established as Mohammadreza Akhbari who was sentenced to death on drug-related charges. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 6, 2025: Taleb Hojratipour, a Kurdish man on death row for murder, was executed in Sanandaj Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Sanandaj Central Prison on 6 October 2025. His identity has been established as 45-year-old Taleb Hojratipour, a Kurdish man from the village of Bardehrasheh in Marivan. He was arrested eleven years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 29, 2025: Mahmoud Nazari and Saeed Parsayi, two men on death row for drug-related offences, were executed in Jiroft Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Jiroft Prison on 28 September 2025. Their identities have been established as Mahmoud Nazari from Isfahan and Saeed Parsayi from Shiraz. They were arrested six years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court in separate cases. At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 24, 2025: Ali Keshavarz, Sajad Aslani, Ahmad Bakhtiar and Keyvan Rahmati were executed in a group hanging in Isfahan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, four men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd ) Central Prison on 24 September 2025. Two of the men were sentenced to death on drug-related charges. Their identities have been established as 30-year-old Ali Keshavarz from the Qashqai tribe in Shiraz, and Sajad Aslani. Ali was arrested four years ago and Sajad, four years ago.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 22, 2025: An unidentified woman, Mostafa Pirabbasi and Peyman Khani were executed for separate murders in Sabzevar Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman and two men were hanged in Sabzevar Prison on 17 September 2025. The men’s identities have been established as Mostafa Pirabbasi and Peyman Khani. The woman has not been identified at the time of writing. They were arrested around six years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders by the Criminal Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 18, 2025: Zahra Fotouhi and Morteza Shirkhani, a woman and a man on death row for separate murders, were executed in Tabriz Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman and a man were hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 17 September 2025. Their identities have been established as 52-year-old Zahra Fotouhi from Tabriz and 40-year-old Morteza Shirkhani from Tabriz. They were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for separate murders.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 16, 2025: Khalil Rashedi, an Arab man on death row for murder, was executed in Ramhormoz Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Ramhormoz Prison on 15 September 2025. His identity has been established as Khalil Rashedi, an Arab man from Ramshir. He was arrested around five years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 9, 2025: Shahriar Dehvari, a Baluch man on death row for murder, was executed in Babolsar Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Babolsar Prison on 7 September 2025. His identity has been established as Shahriar (Ahmad) Dehvari, a Baluch man sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. An informed source told IHRNGO: “Shahriar was arrested in the Spring of 2023 for the murder of two people in Fereydounkar. According to his family, he was on the road from Saravan to Babolsar at the time of the murders but the court ignored the evidence that proved his innocence at trial.”

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 4, 2025: State media reported the execution of an unidentified Afghan man for the murder of a policeman in Bushehr Central Prison. According to Mehr News Agency, a man was hanged in Bushehr (Borj) Central Prison on 4 September 2025. The unnamed Afghan man was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of a policeman. Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 29, 2025: Mohammad Ali Lashari, a Baluch minority, and Hessam Dadkhah were executed for drug-related offences in Isfahan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison on 27 August 2025. Their identities have been established as Mohammad Ali Lashari (photo), a 38-year-old Baluch father of three from Zahedan, and Hessam (Keyvan) Dadkhah from Najaf Abad in Isfahan.