Physical and Spiritual Execution of Entrepreneurs in Iran

History

On February 24, 1979, Sadegh Khalkhali was appointed to form the Islamic Revolutionary Court. The text of the decree reads as follows:

Ayatollah Hajj Sheikh Sadegh Khalkhali is hereby commissioned to preside over a court formed to try the accused and prisoners, and after completing the trial procedures in accordance with Islamic law, to issue rulings.

Ruhollah Mousavi Khomeini

Executions in Iran Following the 1979 Revolution took place in a widespread wave of executions for various crimes and pretexts, primarily by decree of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court. These courts were formed by order of Sayed Ruhollah Khomeini, with Sadegh Khalkhali playing a prominent role in carrying them out.

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When a great entrepreneur dies, it is as though a reservoir of inspiration and a light of hope has been extinguished in some corner of our land. In these turbulent times, with the death of each entrepreneur, it seems that many of our workers lose their job security and the light of hope dims in numerous homes, and new unemployed are added to the ranks of our jobless.
An entrepreneur is not straw to be blown by the wind or water that cannot be disturbed. Rather, he is a fruitful palm tree that if it falls, brings bitterness to many who enjoyed its sweetness. No entrepreneur is a seed that, when fallen to the ground, will simply sprout anew. Rather, it takes years and years for “cloud and wind and mist and sun and sky to work” until from among the countless multitude of a nation’s citizens, an entrepreneur emerges and transforms the latent potential capacities hidden in the minds and arms of other humans into reality.

Spiritual Execution of Musa Khani

The late Musa Khani was one of these noble and fruitful palms that fell to the ground amid the storms of recent events and the destructive winds that blew from the political realm toward our economy.

We never saw him up close, but we heard accounts of his work and understood that we were dealing with great entrepreneurship. Because everything he created was built from nothing; because forty years ago, starting from working as a laborer in a small cake-making workshop, he aimed to build a great economic empire. He looked toward open and vast horizons, and managed to free himself from the constraints of traditional and conservative management methods. In a land where everyone is bound to their own city and homeland, he migrated to Isfahan, transforming a foreign land into a familiar one, and created a factory that captured everyone’s attention. Single-handedly, he founded two of the largest economic enterprises in the province in the food industries sector, creating thousands of jobs.
Unfortunately, like all the foolishness and misfortunes that the political realm has brought upon this country—with the rise and fall of governments, the instability and sometimes lawlessness resulting from the turning of the times—Musa Khani too was caught in the devastating storm of upheaval in Iran’s economic and political circumstances. First his leaves fell, then his branches were broken, and finally his robust body fell to the ground. Undoubtedly, Musa Khani, like any other person, made mistakes in his economic decisions. However, there is a difference between a society that, when its entrepreneur makes a mistake and faces difficulties, rises to support him, and a society that, when its entrepreneur makes a wrong decision or encounters difficulties in the course of time and his flourishing period comes to an end, not only abandons him but throws obstacles in the path of his salvation. Yes, if several years ago, when the administrative council of Isfahan province set aside funds for rescuing troubled enterprises, including a share for him, they had not acted with narrow-mindedness and political maneuvering, and if the council’s resolution had been implemented, perhaps now Musa Khani and Musa Khani’s industry would still be alive. And this was the same Musa Khani who during forty years of economic activity founded and supported dozens of charitable institutions. But when he himself needed the helping hand of others, we abandoned him.

Musa Khani, by enduring the fierce winds of destructive events that blew during these years, became a symbol of the victimization of entrepreneurship in this land. Entrepreneurs of this land are oppressed because there are still those who do not distinguish between an innovative entrepreneur and an insatiable rent-seeker or a wealthy aristocrat. They are oppressed because they see no helping hand around them; every hand they see either seeks assistance or makes demands. They are oppressed because many of our government officials still do not know that the primary capital for economic advancement in any country, especially in our stagnant economy, is risk-taking, patient, innovative entrepreneurs—not oil and gas reserves and colorful mines that make them arrogant and negligent of the hidden treasures among our citizens. Therefore, entrepreneurs should not be measured by the value of money and should not be held culpable for failures, most of which result from the instabilities and poor macroeconomic management of the country. They are oppressed because our children know the names of many domestic and international actors, singers, and footballers, but we have instilled the name of no Iranian entrepreneur in their minds. They are oppressed because in a world where everyone has resigned themselves to smallness, we cannot tolerate great people. They are oppressed because in an era when legendary corruptions constantly emerge, distinguishing a real entrepreneur from a corrupt rent-seeker is exceedingly difficult.

They are oppressed because our tax system still has not grasped that entrepreneurs shoulder the heavy burden of unemployment benefits from the state’s shoulders and bear it themselves. They are oppressed because our insurance and banking systems still do not understand that in times of economic recession, they should support entrepreneurs rather than intensify pressure for loan recovery, keeping them grounded and subject to prosecution and imprisonment. They are oppressed because our judiciary does not understand that imprisoning an entrepreneur is like destroying an ancient artifact for which lifetimes and enormous expenses were invested in its creation. They are oppressed because, contrary to the entire world, bankruptcy law in this land has become an abandoned, nominal, and ineffective law, and as a result, when an entrepreneur fails in his perilous journey, he is condemned to destruction and is not allowed to start again. They are oppressed because our people, in their judgment of them, make no distinction between negligence and guilt, and when an entrepreneur fails, instead of pointing the finger of blame toward external circumstances and factors that led him toward failure, they point it at the entrepreneur himself. They are oppressed because our governments inject their political purposes into their dealings with entrepreneurs.

And finally, our entrepreneurs are oppressed because our universities still do not feel the responsibility to prepare the ground of public opinion for entrepreneurs’ advancement toward blessed horizons, nor do they use their knowledge to correct and strengthen entrepreneurs’ performance. Let us not forget that eighty years have passed since the establishment of our university system, yet we still have not established a single discipline for training, strengthening, and advising entrepreneurs.

May the soul of the late Musa Khani rest in peace, for in the course of his entrepreneurial activities, he experienced on his body the pain of all these social, political, legal, and scientific disorders and shortcomings, and bore them oppressively and silently until death granted him relief. We regard him as a symbol of the victimization of entrepreneurship in Iran. Let us have no doubt that as long as the system of governance in this country does not devise support, rehabilitation, and honor for entrepreneurs like the late Musa Khani, and does not design a mechanism for it, entrepreneurship in this land will not take root. We can be certain that as long as we do not rehabilitate and honor the economic warrior like the late Musa Khani and do not erect a statue of him in our city square or name a street after him, entrepreneurship in this land will never take root. May his soul be blessed and his path be filled with companions.

Physical Execution of Farkhrou Parsa

Farkhrou Parsa, who was born in Qom in 1922, was initially a biology teacher and later completed his studies in medicine. During Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda’s tenure, he was appointed Minister of Education. He improved the conditions of education in Iranian schools and the education of Iranian girls.

On Thursday, May 8, 1980, the Kayhan newspaper wrote: “At one-thirty in the morning today, Farkhrou Parsa was shot dead.”

In late February 1980, Farkhrou Parsa was arrested. The Revolutionary Court, presided over by Sadegh Khalkhali, tried him on charges such as “creating corruption in the Ministry of Education and helping the spread of indecency in education and effective cooperation with SAVAK and expulsion of revolutionary educators from Iran’s Ministry of Culture,” and sentenced him to death.

The Revolutionary Court referred to SAVAK documents and claimed that Farkhrou Parsa, in a gathering of managers of religious schools, criticized the hijab of female managers and insulted veiled managers. Farkhrou Parsa denied this claim and said: “In that meeting, I said that the hijab should not be an obstacle to women’s social activities. At that time, girls in religious schools did not participate in sports activities at all. In all my circulars, I invited women to wear heavy clothing with hijab.”

Another charge against him was an attempt to remove books on religious teachings and Quran instruction from Iranian schools. In response to this charge, Farkhrou Parsa said: “At that time, people like Dr. Mohammad Javad Bahonar and Ayatollah Boroujerdi were invited to cooperate with this ministry in preparing and translating courses on religious teachings and the Quran and to prepare the necessary books.”

Before his execution, he wrote in his will: “The court makes a big distinction between women and men. I hope the future will be better for women.”

The ritual washers refused to wash the body of Farkhrou Parsa, who was executed on charges of spreading corruption on earth. The women of his family washed his body. Three bullets had struck below his chest and exited through the back of his body.

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Physical Execution of Mah-Afreed Amirkhosravi

(Born 1969 in Rudbar, Gilan – Died June 24, 2014 in Evin Prison), also known as Amir Mansour Aria, was accused in September 2011 of embezzling several thousand billion tomans (2,800 to 3,000 billion tomans), which is said to be the largest embezzlement in Iran’s history.

According to a report, he was the two hundred and ninetieth richest person in the world. Mah-Afreed Amirkhosravi’s initial activities began with managing a dairy farm with his brothers in 2005 and 2006. He, who had also served in military service until 1993, had founded this livestock unit using quick-return schemes. The continuation of their activities was accompanied by misuse of these loans, causing him to turn to financial corruption. Additionally, the initial capital of “Amir Mansour Aria Investment Development Company” on June 19, 2006, was equal to 50 million tomans, which according to the board of directors’ minutes of the same company dated November 30, 2008, increased to 20 billion tomans.

The Amir Mansour Aria Investment Development Company in 2010, in line with implementing Article 44 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, through suspicious measures, was able to acquire 94.96 percent of Lorestan Machine Manufacturing Company’s shares, 95.2 percent of Iran Steel Industry Group’s shares, 95 percent of Railway Construction Engineering and Infrastructure Company’s shares (Traverse), and 39.5 percent of Aksin Steel Khuzestan’s shares.

Some of the subsidiary companies of “Amir Mansour Aria Investment Development” are as follows:

The four brothers Amirkhosravi, named Mah-Afreed, Mehrgaan, Masoud, and Mardavij, are the main founders of this group.

Also, the wives of the four brothers above, respectively named Sara Khosravi, Tooba Abdollahzadeh Siahkali, Farshideh Tahevildar Akbari, and Soraya Afsordabar, participated in economic activities and particularly in company share ownership, and therefore the assets of these individuals were seized and impounded by the country’s judiciary. Mehrgaan Amirkhosravi and his wife Tooba Abdollahzadeh Siahkali have been living in Montreal, Canada since last summer and hoped to obtain permanent residence in that country, but Canada’s immigration office rejected their residency application.

In late 2010, he obtained the Central Bank’s approval to establish a bank named “Bank Aria,” and in March of that year, he proceeded to underwriting and then published a job recruitment advertisement. However, in August 2011, the Central Bank revoked the bank’s operating license.

Embezzlement

He was the main defendant in the embezzlement of 3,000 billion tomans from Bank Saderat Iran, for which he was arrested on August 5, 2011.

Special Facilities

Another charge against him was the use of 400 billion tomans in facilities from the National Bank, which was provided without any documents or mortgages. This amount is separate from the embezzlement due to letter of credit issuance.

Land Grabbing

230 hectares of land in Kish and hundreds of hectares of land in Kashanak, Tehran, were placed at his disposal at a price of 16 rials per square meter.

Finally, after the court’s verdict was issued, early in the morning of June 24, 2014, the death sentence of Mah-Afreed Khosravi was carried out. Accordingly, the Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office announced that the death sentence verdict against the accused prisoner Mah-Afreed Amirkhosravi, son of Mansour, was carried out early Saturday morning, June 24, 2014, at Evin Prison. This sentence was carried out three days after Mah-Afreed Khosravi’s lawyer reported his letter to Sayed Ali Khamenei.

Considering these charges and such economic progress, as well as the immediate execution without delay, it is certain that government interests and secrets were in danger. And all of us should know that such actions are only characteristic of a corrupt regime that, by making capital holders and entrepreneurs as pawns, commits large-scale embezzlement and rent-seeking in such a way that no trace remains of the regime’s officials and corrupt government.

Those Accused of Embezzlement in Iran

• Mah-Afreed Amirkhosravi

Kh

• Mahmoudreza Khavari
• Fazel Khodadad

R

• Morteza Rafighdoost

K

• Gholamhossein Karbaschi

N

• Nasser Vaez Tabasi

Executions of Iranians During the Islamic Republic Period

A

• Hassan Azerpar
• Asghar Arasteah

A

• Mehdi Eslami’an
• Ali Ashteri
• Ashraf Chahar-Cheshmeh
• Execution of Political Prisoners (Summer 1988)
• Jamshid Aalam
• Bahram Afzali
• Farhad Vakili
• Habibollah Qananian
• Fathollah Omid Najafabadi
• Ali-Asghar Amiriani
• Mah-Afreed Amirkhosravi
• Shahram Amiri

B

• Mansour Baghriyan
• Pari Balande
• Mehdi Balegh
• Zahra Bahrami
• Manouchehr Behzadi
• Bijeh
• Bijan Irannezad

P

• Yousof Pourrezai
• Farkhrou Parsa
• Mohammad Pourhormozgan
• Hassan Pakrowan
• Shokrolleh Paknezad

J

• Shahleh Jahedi
• Reihane Jobari
• Majid Jamali Fashi
• Nader Jahanbani

H

• Mohammad-Ali Hajaghayee
• Habibollah Ashuri
• Ali Hejat Kashani
• Hussein Ahmadi Rouhani
• Saeed Hanai
• Ali Heidarian

Kh

• Khavashe Shab
• Habib Khobiri
• Fazel Khodadad
• Rahim-Ali Kharam
• Manouchehr Khosrodad
• Hussein Khazri

D

• Delara Darabi
• Gholamhossein Daneshi

R

• Amirhossein Rabiee
• Aatefe Rajabi Sohalee
• Arash Rahmanipour
• Yahya Rahimi
• Abdullah Riazi
• Abdolhamid Rigi

Z

• Siamak Zaeem

S

• Hussein Sudmand
• Nasser Sobhani
• Jalal Sejadaei
• Manouchehr Malak
• Mohammad-Reza Saadati
• Javad Saeed
• Saeed Soltanpur
• Manouchehr Salimi
• Sohrab Ghollami
• Sayed Saeed Mahdiun

Sh

• Rahim Shams
• Taghi Shahram

S

• Ali Sarami

A

• Abdullah Khajeh-Nouri
• Houshyar Atarian
• Mohammad-Ali Alameh Vahidi
• Shirin Elmholi
• Mohammad-Reza Ali-Zamani

F

• Ehsan Fatahhiyan
• Fathi Brothers
• Farjollah Seifi Kamanger
• Farkhzad Jahangiri
• Abdullah Farivar Moghaddas
• Fereydoun Tavangari

Q

• Khosro Qashqaei
• Sadegh Qotbzadeh

K

• Kazem Afjehi
• Jafar Kazemi
• Bijan Kabiri
• Farzad Kamanger

G

• Akbar Goodarzi

M

• Majid Kavousi-far
• Mohsen Amiraslani
• Ayat Mohagheqi
• Mona Mahmudinejad
• Mohammad Herati
• Mohammad-Mehdi Dozduzani
• Fatima Modares
• Mard-e Zhela’i
• Shirko Moarrefi
• Masoumeh Shadmani
• Ahmad Massoumi Kouhsefhani
• Nasser Moghaddam
• Ali-Reza Malasoltani
• Soraya Manuchehri
• Yaghub Mehrnehad
• Farjollah Mizani

N

• Ali Neshat
• Nemat-Allah Nasiri
• Zhinus Nemat Mahmoudi
• Gholamreza Nikpay
• Parviz Nikkhah

H

• Rahman Hatefi
• Sayed Mehdi Hashemi (Pasdaran)
• Amir Abbas Hoveyda
• Heyatollah Moini Chaghround

Y

• Faseh Yasmani

Executions of Pahlavi Regime Leaders

By the verdict of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Iran and by order of Sayed Ruhollah Khomeini and under the presidency of Sadegh Khalkhali, following the 1979 revolution, a wave of executions of the leaders and affiliates of the previous government was set in motion, whose primary goal was claimed to be addressing the crimes of the leaders of the Pahlavi regime. These executions generally provoked severe reactions from world communities and especially from Amnesty International.

On February 16, 1979, the first group of leaders of the former system, which included 4 generals of the Imperial Iranian Army, was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Sadegh Khalkhali. According to Amnesty International’s report, from the victory of the revolution until March 1980, 438 people were executed by the Revolutionary Court.

Executions of Baha’is

From the beginning of the 1979 revolution in Iran until now, approximately 202 Baha’is have been executed by the Islamic government for their belief in the Baha’i faith or for promoting and propagating it.

Summer 1988 Executions

The execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 was an event in which, by order of Sayed Ruhollah Khomeini, several thousand political and ideological prisoners in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran were, in a secretive manner, executed in the months of August and September 1988 and buried in mass graves. In general, the crime of the prisoners was deemed to be cooperation with organizations opposing the Islamic Republic system, particularly the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization of Iran as well as various left-wing, communist, and Marxist groups. The number of victims of this event varies among different sources and is estimated between 3,000 to 4,482 people. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights has reported that the number of executed political prisoners is at least 1,879 people.

Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

During the period of Islamic Republic governance in Iran, the UN General Assembly, except for one or two years, has issued resolutions almost every year regarding human rights violations by the Islamic Republic government. In the UN General Assembly resolution numbered A/RES/64/176 issued in April 2010, the assembly condemned Iran on many counts. Including the government’s treatment of protesters over the results of the Iranian presidential election (2009). The Islamic Republic government seriously tramples on civil liberties, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, associations, and personal freedoms, and has also obstructed religious freedoms.

Ethnic and Religious Minorities

More than 49 percent of Iran’s population consists of ethnic minorities. The Constitution grants equal rights to all ethnic minorities and allows minority languages to be used in media, schools, and weekly radio and television programs. Nevertheless, linguistic minorities have never been allowed to use their own languages in schools. Only a small number of minority groups sought separation. Instead, they complained of economic and political discrimination. The state radio and television broadcasts programs in various ethnic minority languages.

Sunni Muslims in Iran have more than 15,000 mosques, and currently in Tehran there are 9 mosques for Sunni Muslims.

Non-Muslim Communities

During the final review session of the Islamic Republic’s Constitution, the debate about whether “should the state’s official religion be mentioned in the Constitution?” ended in favor of Shiite Islamists. Ultimately, Article 12 of Iran’s Constitution introduced “Islam and Twelver Ja’fari Shi’ism” as the country’s official religion and merely acknowledged that other Islamic schools such as Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali, and Zaydi could act according to their jurisprudence. Influential clergy at that time opposed the demands of non-Muslim communities (such as Jews, Baha’is, and Zoroastrians) for official recognition of their religions and insisted that non-Muslims should be considered subject to “Dhimmi” status. Finally, Article 13 of the Constitution was approved with only 6 opposing votes (four non-Muslim representatives and two others). According to this article, Iranian Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians are recognized as the only religious minorities who are free, within the law, to perform their religious ceremonies and follow their own traditions in personal matters and religious teachings.

According to some, the mention of the phrase “only religious minorities” in this article ultimately resulted in other religious communities (including Baha’is as the largest religious community in Iran after Muslims) being deprived of recognized rights.

Article 881 Repeated of the Civil Code is the most controversial law in Iran concerning religious minorities. This article, which concerns inheritance, states: “A non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim, and if among the heirs of a deceased non-Muslim there is a Muslim, the non-Muslim heirs do not inherit; even if they are of a higher class and degree compared to the Muslim.” In Iranian courts, religious minorities are subject to this article of law and are classified as among the “disbelievers” in matters of inheritance. Of course, this law provides an opportunity for opportunistic individuals to abuse.

In the Islamic Penal Code, in the punishment of a killer, if the victim is Muslim, qisas (retaliation) is prescribed, but in the same code, if the victim is from religious minorities (non-Muslim), the killer’s punishment is diyah (blood money). Among other legal differences and discriminations against non-Muslim citizens in Iran is the issue of testimony in court, where the testimony of non-Muslims against Muslims is not accepted.

The seizure of endowments belonging to non-Muslim citizens in Iran and the destruction of their schools and the neglect of officials are among other problems faced by non-Muslim Iranian citizens. After the victory of the 1979 revolution, religious minorities were deprived of having their own schools for years. Statements at the beginning of sessions and detailed records of parliamentary deliberations indicate repeated protests by their representatives in parliament. Even after the reopening of these schools, the assignment of school management to Muslim individuals despite the protests of religious minorities has been another problem for this segment of Iranians. An issue that, even after all these years, has not been completely resolved, and some minority schools are still managed by Muslim principals.

This collection of issues has caused, according to Robert Beglarian, representative of Armenians in the south during the seventh, eighth, and ninth terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the migration phenomenon to be the most important challenge facing religious minorities at present.

Azerbaijanis

The current leader of Iran, Sayed Ali Khamenei, is himself of Azerbaijani ethnicity and is from Khameneh and knows the Turkish language. However, a minority of Azerbaijanis have consistently protested ethnic and linguistic discrimination, including the prohibition of teaching Azerbaijani in schools, harassment of Azerbaijani political activists, and changes to Azerbaijani geographic names. In May 2007, widespread protests were held in Azerbaijan-speaking cities of Iran in response to a cartoon in Iran newspaper, which led to the arrest of 300 people and the death of 4 protesters. Iranian government officials attributed the organizers of these protests to Israel. Abbas Banai Kazemi was sentenced to 16 months in prison for participating in these protests.

Kurds

In March 2006, clashes between Kurds and security forces resulted in the deaths of three people and the arrest of 250 people. Clashes also occurred in June 2005, and protests and strikes in July and August 2005 followed the killing of a Kurdish activist by security forces. According to Human Rights Watch and other sources, security forces killed at least 17 people and arrested many others.

Arab People

Following 3 explosions in 2005 and 2006 in Iran’s Khuzestan Province, the Revolutionary Court issued a ruling sentencing 11 Arab individuals to death in connection with bombings. The government held forces and foreign governments responsible for these acts of violence. Some human rights activists have stated that the bombing suspects did not receive fair trials.

Jews

The Iranian-American Jewish Federation has stated that Iranian authorities have provided no information about 11 Jewish men who disappeared in 1994 and 1997.^[

The educational system of the Islamic Republic of Iran restricts Jewish children in the use of non-religious Jewish books and requires Jewish schools to remain open on Saturdays. There are limitations on the advancement of Jews in specialized professions and especially within the government apparatus.

Political Executions

Following the 1979 revolution, a number of officials from Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s government were executed, and in the summer of 1988, a number of individuals from groups opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran were executed.

Criminal Executions

Amnesty International reported that in 2007, at least 24 people were executed each week and more than 64 people were sentenced to death, and Iran, with 317 executions in that year, ranks second in this regard.

In 2008, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 70 to 80 criminals awaited execution. In 2005, a sixteen-year-old girl was publicly executed in Neka County for what was called “illicit sexual relations.”

Based on Islamic laws enforced in Iran, homosexuals face execution if their homosexuality is proven, and the judge can choose the method of execution from among five methods, including throwing the offender from a height or collapsing a wall on them. The use of such methods has not been reported since the 1979 revolution, but a man in Qazvin Province was stoned to death for adultery.

Children’s Rights

Iran acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994. However, some of Iran’s existing laws still conflict with this convention.

Violence

According to Iran’s regulations, physical punishment of children by fathers is permitted to the extent of discretion, while Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires states to protect children from abuse by parents or guardians. According to Article 222 of the Islamic Penal Code, if a father or paternal grandfather kills his child, qisas is not applied and he is only sentenced to payment of diyah and ta’zir, but in similar circumstances, a mother would be sentenced to qisas.

Education

Both the Constitution and the Children’s Rights Regulations consider education compulsory for children up to a certain age, but a large number of Iranian children currently do not receive education due to economic difficulties. The lack of identity registration and statelessness of children who have an Afghan father and Iranian mother has prevented them from being able to register and study in any school without identification, a deprivation that conflicts with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Homosexuals

There is no precise data on the number of homosexuals executed after the 1979 revolution in Iran, but human rights activists believe that more than four thousand gay men and women have been executed in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Male Homosexuals

Iran’s laws condemn men who commit homosexual acts for the first time, provided penetration occurred, to various punishments, including execution. In cases where penetration did not occur, these individuals receive a maximum of 100 lashes. Under Iran’s criminal laws, proving sodomy requires the person’s confession repeated four times and/or testimony of four just male witnesses. However, judges can also accept circumstantial evidence.

Female Homosexuals

Women who have committed homosexual acts (lesbianism) for the fourth time may be sentenced to death.

Privacy

In 2007, law enforcement arrested 150,000 people during campaigns against improper dress and forced them to sign “commitment letters” to comply with government-determined dress codes.

Also that year, airport security police stopped more than 17,000 people who had transited through Iranian airports due to their clothing, questioned them, detained 850 women, and forced them to sign commitment letters. Another 130 people were prosecuted by judicial authorities.

Women’s Rights in Iran

The rights of Iranian women have undergone significant changes during various political and historical periods. These rights include the right to marriage, the right to divorce, the right to education, the right to dress and hijab, and health rights (such as reproductive rights, family planning, and abortion), the right to vote, and other rights.

According to the 2012 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum, among 135 countries, Iran ranks 127th in terms of gender inequality, which is highly regrettable.