Physical and Spiritual Execution of Entrepreneurs in Iran

History

On March 26, 1979, Sadegh Khalkhali was appointed to establish the Islamic Revolutionary Court. The text of the decree read as follows:

His Eminence Hojjat al-Islam Haj Sheikh Sadegh Khalkhali, may his blessings endure, is hereby commissioned to attend the court established for the trial of the accused and prisoners, and after completing the preliminaries of the trial in accordance with Islamic law, to issue religious verdicts.

Ruhollah al-Mousavi al-Khomeini

Executions in Iran After the 1979 Revolution involved widespread waves of executions for various alleged crimes and pretexts, mostly by order of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court. These courts were established by the command of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, with Sadegh Khalkhali playing a prominent role in their implementation.

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When a great entrepreneur dies, it is as though a treasury of inspiration and a lamp of hope has been extinguished in some corner of our land. In this troubled times, with the death of each entrepreneur, it seems that many of our workers lose their job security and the lamp of hope is darkened in numerous homes, and new unemployed are added to the ranks of the jobless.

An entrepreneur is not straw that rolls in the wind or water that is unmoved by water. Rather, he is a fruitful date palm that, if it falls, condemns many to bitterness. No entrepreneur is a seed that, when it falls to the ground, easily sprouts as a new seedling. Rather, years and years must pass until “clouds and winds and fog and sun and sky work” so that from among the vast multitude of citizens of a country, an entrepreneur emerges and brings to actuality the latent potential abilities hidden in the minds and arms of other human beings.

Spiritual Execution of Musa Khani

The late Musa Khani was one of these tall and fruitful date palms that fell to the ground in the storm of recent events and the hot winds that blew from the world of politics toward our economy.

We have never seen him up close, but we have heard of his work and learned that we were dealing with a great entrepreneur. For he built everything from nothing; for forty years earlier, he began as a worker in a small cake bakery, yet he aimed to build a great economic empire. He gazed toward open and expansive horizons and was able to free himself from the constraints of traditional and conservative management methods. In a land where everyone is bound to their own city and home, he migrated to Isfahan and turned a foreign land into a familiar place, and accomplished a feat that captivated all eyes—alone founding two units of the largest economic enterprises in the province in the food industry sector and creating thousands of jobs.

Unfortunately, like all the misfortunes and disasters that the world of politics has brought upon this country, in the rise and fall of governments and the instability and sometimes the lawlessness resulting from the turning of times, Musa Khani too fell victim to the destructive storm of turmoil in Iran’s economic and political conditions. 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. But 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 fate and his flourishing period ends, not only abandons him but also throws stones in the way of his salvation. Indeed, if a few years earlier, when the Isfahan provincial administrative council had allocated a share from the budget for rescuing troubled enterprises for him, they had not shown narrow-mindedness and political maneuvering, and the council’s decision had been implemented, perhaps Musa Khani and his industry would still be alive today. And this was the same Musa Khani who, throughout 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 have blown in these years, became a symbol of the oppression of entrepreneurship in this land. The entrepreneurs of this land are oppressed because there are still those who do not know the difference between an innovative entrepreneur and an insatiable rent-seeker or a wealthy aristocrat. They are oppressed because they see no helping hand around them, only hands that either seek help or make demands. They are oppressed because many of our officials still do not know that the true capital for economic advancement in any country, especially our stagnant economy, is enterprising, risk-taking, patient, and innovative entrepreneurs—not oil and gas resources and colorful mines that intoxicate them with pride and make them neglect the hidden treasures among our citizens. Therefore, entrepreneurs should not be measured by the value of money, nor should they be held responsible for failures, the vast majority of which stem from the instabilities and mismanagement of the country’s macro-economy. They are oppressed because our children know the names of many domestic and international actors, singers, and footballers, but we have not planted the name of any Iranian entrepreneur in their minds. They are oppressed because in a world where everyone has grown accustomed to smallness, we cannot bear great people. They are oppressed because in an age when legendary corruptions appear successively, distinguishing a true entrepreneur from a corrupt rent-seeker is exceedingly difficult.

They are oppressed because our tax system still has not realized that entrepreneurs bear the heavy burden of unemployment benefits for the workforce on their shoulders, lifting it from the government’s back. They are oppressed because our insurance and banking system still does not know that during economic recession, they should rise to support entrepreneurs, not increase pressure to recover entrepreneurs’ debts and render them grounded, prosecuted, and imprisoned. They are oppressed because our judiciary does not know that imprisoning an entrepreneur is like destroying an ancient artifact on which years and enormous costs have been spent. They are oppressed because, contrary to the entire world, the bankruptcy law in this land has become an abandoned, superficial, and ineffective law, and as a result, when an entrepreneur fails in their risky path, they are condemned to ruin and will not be allowed to start anew. They are oppressed because our people still do not distinguish between negligence and guilt in their judgment of them, and when an entrepreneur fails, instead of pointing the finger of accusation at the external circumstances and factors that led the entrepreneur to failure, they point it at the entrepreneur themselves. They are oppressed because our governments inject their political purposes into their treatment of entrepreneurs as well.

And finally, our entrepreneurs are oppressed because our universities still do not feel the responsibility to pave the way for public opinion to advance entrepreneurs toward blessed horizons and do not use their knowledge to correct and strengthen entrepreneurial performance. Let us not forget that eighty years have passed since the founding of our university system, yet we have still not established any department for teaching, 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 the pain of all these social, political, legal, and scientific disorders and deficiencies on his body and endured them miserably and in silence until death granted him relief. We regard him as a symbol of the oppression of entrepreneurship in Iran. Let us be certain that as long as the system of governance in this country does not think of a measure and design a mechanism to support, restore the dignity of, and celebrate entrepreneurs like the late Musa Khani, entrepreneurship in this land will not take root. We can be assured that as long as we do not restore the dignity of and celebrate an economic warrior like the late Musa Khani and do not erect his statue in our city square or name a street in his memory, entrepreneurship will never take root in this land. May his soul be at peace and his path be filled with travelers.

Physical Execution of Farrokhroo Parsa

Farrokhroo Parsa, who was born in Qom in 1922, was initially a biology teacher and later completed her medical studies. During the tenure of Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda, she was appointed as Minister of Education. She improved the state of education in Iranian schools and the education of Iranian girls.

On Thursday, April 8, 1980, the Kayhan newspaper reported: “At half past one this morning, Farrokhroo Parsa was executed by firing squad.”

In late February 1980, Farrokhroo Parsa was arrested. The Islamic Revolutionary Court, chaired by Sadegh Khalkhali, tried her on charges such as “spreading corruption in the Ministry of Education and assisting the expansion of immorality in education and effective cooperation with SAVAK and the expulsion of revolutionary educators from the Ministry of Culture of Iran” and sentenced her to death.

The Islamic Revolutionary Court referred to SAVAK documents and claimed that Farrokhroo Parsa, in a gathering of directors of religious schools, had criticized the hijab of female administrators and insulted veiled administrators. Farrokhroo Parsa denied this claim and said: “In that meeting, I spoke about women’s hijab, saying that the hijab should not prevent women’s social activities. At that time, girls in religious schools did not participate in sporting activities at all. In all my circulars, I invited women to wear heavy clothing and observe hijab.”

Another charge against her was an attempt to remove religious instruction books and Qur’anic education from Iranian schools. In response to this charge, Farrokhroo Parsa had said: “At that time, we invited people like Dr. Mohammad Javad Bahonar and Ayatollah Barqi to cooperate with this ministry in preparing and translating lessons of religious instruction and the Qur’an and to provide the necessary books.”

Before she was executed, she wrote in her will: “The court makes a great distinction between women and men. I hope the future will be better for women.”

Ritual washers refused to wash the body of Farrokhroo Parsa, who had been executed for being declared a “corrupter on earth.” The women of her family washed her body. Three bullets had struck her beneath the chest and exited through her back.

Physical Execution of Mah-Afrid 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 or 3,000 billion tomans), which is said to have been the largest embezzlement in Iran’s history.

According to reports, he was the 290th richest person in the world. Mah-Afrid Amirkhosravi’s initial business activity began with running 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 plans. The continuation of his activities was accompanied by the misuse of these loans and led him to commit financial corruption. Additionally, the initial capital of “Amir Mansour Aria Investment Development Company” on June 19, 2006, was equivalent to 50 million tomans, which according to the minutes of the company’s board of directors meeting on December 20, 2008, increased to 20 billion tomans.

Amir Mansour Aria Investment Development Company in 2010, in implementing Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution, through suspicious actions, was able to purchase 94.96 percent of Lorestan Machinery Manufacturing shares, 95.2 percent of Iran Steel Industrial Group shares, 95 percent of Railway Technical Construction Engineering shares (Traverse), and 39.5 percent of Aksin Steel Khuzestan shares.

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

The brothers Amirkhosravi named Mah-Afrid, Mehrgan, Masoud, and Mardavij were the principal figures constituting this group.

Additionally, the spouses of the four aforementioned brothers named Sara Khosravi, Tooba Abdollahzadeh Siahkali, Farshideh Tahvildari Akbari, and Thuraya Afsordeh participated in economic activities, particularly in the ownership of company shares, and consequently, the properties of these individuals were seized and frozen by the country’s judiciary. Mehrgan Amirkhosravi and his wife Tooba Abdollahzadeh Siahkali have been living in Montreal, Canada since last summer and hoped for permanent residence in that country, but Canada’s immigration authority did not accept this couple’s request for residence.

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

Embezzlement

He was the main suspect in the embezzlement of three thousand billion tomans from Bank Saderat Iran and was arrested on August 5, 2011.

Special Facilities

Another charge against him was the use of 400 billion tomans in facilities from Bank Melli, which were provided without any documents or mortgages. This amount was separate from the embezzlement through the opening of letters of credit.

Land Grabbing

230 hectares of land in Kish and hundreds of hectares of land in Kashanak, Tehran, were allocated to him at a price of 16 rials per square meter.

Finally, after the court’s verdict was issued, in the early morning of June 24, 2014, Mah-Afrid Khosravi’s death sentence was carried out. Accordingly, the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office of Tehran announced that the death sentence of the condemned prisoner Mah-Afrid Amirkhosravi, son of Mansour, was executed on Saturday morning, the 24th of Khordad, 1393 (June 24, 2014) at Evin Prison. This sentence was carried out three days after Mah-Afrid Khosravi’s lawyer announced his letter to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei.

Considering these charges and such economic progress, and the immediate and uninterrupted execution, it is certain that state interests and secrets were again in danger. And we must all know that such actions are only characteristic of a corrupt regime that, by treating capitalists and entrepreneurs as playthings, carries out massive embezzlements and rent-seeking in such a way that there is no trace of the regime’s officials and corrupt government.

Those Accused of Embezzlement in Iran

• Mah-Afrid Amirkhosravi

Kh

• Mahmoud Reza Khavari
• Fazel Khodadad

R

• Morteza Rafighdust

K

• Gholamhossein Karbaschi

N

• Naser Vaziri Tabasi

Those Executed in Iran During the Islamic Republic

A

• Hassan Azarfar
• Asghar Arasteeh

A

• Mahdi Eslamian
• Ali Ashtari
• Ashraf Chaharcheshm
• Execution of Political Prisoners (Summer 1988)
• Jamshid Alem
• Bahram Afzali
• Farhad Vakili
• Habibollah Qalaniyyan
• Fathollah Omid Najafabadi
• Aliasghar Amiraní
• Mah-Afrid Amirkhosravi
• Shahram Amiri

B

• Mansour Baqerian
• Pari Balande
• Mahdi Baliğ
• Zahra Bahrami
• Manocher Behzadi
• Bijeh
• Bijan Irannezad

P

• Yousef Pourrezaei
• Farrokhroo Parsa
• Mohammad Pour Hormozgan
• Hassan Pakravan
• Shakarollah Paknezad

J

• Shahla Jahed
• Rihane Jabari
• Majid Jamali Fashi
• Nader Jahanbani

H

• Mohammad Ali Haj Aqaei
• Habibollah Ashoori
• Ali Hejat Kashani
• Hossein Ahmadi Rouhani
• Saeid Hanai
• Ali Heidarian

Kh

• Khafash Shab
• Habib Khabiri
• Fazel Khodadad
• Rahim Ali Kharam
• Manocher Khosrodad
• Hossein Khazari

D

• Delara Darabi
• Gholamhossein Daneshi

R

• Amir Hossein Rabiee
• Aatefe Rajabi Sohaile
• Arash Rahmanpour
• Yahya Rahimi
• Abdollah Riazi
• Abdolhamid Rigi

Z

• Siamak Zaeim

S

• Hossein Soudmand
• Naser Sobhani
• Jalal Sejadaee
• Manocher Melek
• Mohammad Reza Saedat
• Javad Saeid
• Saeid Soltanpour
• Manocher Salimi
• Sohrab Ghollami
• Sayed Saeid Mahdioun

Sh

• Rahim Shams
• Taghi Shahram

S

• Ali Sarami

A

• Abdollah Khajenouri
• Hushang Atarian
• Mohammad Ali Alameh Vahedi
• Shirin Almholi
• Mohammad Reza Alizamani

F

• Ehsan Fatahaian
• Fathi Brothers
• Frajollah Seifi Kamangar
• Farkhzad Jahangiri
• Abdollah Farzaneh Moghadam
• Fereydoun Tavangari

Q

• Khosrow Qashqai
• Sadegh Qotbzadeh

K

• Kazem Afjeh-ai
• Jafar Kazemi
• Bijan Kabiri
• Farzad Kamangar

G

• Akbar Godarzi

M

• Majid Kaoussifer
• Mohsen Amiraslani
• Ayatollah Mohagheghi
• Mona Mahmoudnejad
• Mohammad Horati
• Mohammad Mahdi Dozdozani
• Fatimah Modarresi
• Gel Man
• Shirko Maarefeh
• Masumeh Shadmani
• Ahmad Massoumi Kochsfahani
• Naser Moghadam
• Alireza Molasoltani
• Thuraya Monoochehri
• Yaqoob Mehrnahad
• Frajollah Mezani

N

• Ali Nashat
• Nematollah Nassiri
• Zhinus Nemat Mahmoudi
• Gholamreza Nikpai
• Parviz Nikkhah

H

• Rahman Hatefi
• Sayed Mahdi Hashemi (Pasdar)
• Amir Abbas Hoveyda
• Heybaatollah Moaini Chaghavond

Y

• Fasih Yasmani

Execution of Pahlavi Government Leaders

By order of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court and the command of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and chaired by Sadegh Khalkhali, after the 1979 revolution, a wave of executions of leaders and supporters of the former government was initiated, which was originally aimed at addressing the crimes of the Pahlavi government leaders. These executions generally provoked severe reactions from international societies and especially Amnesty International.

On February 17, 1979, the first group of leaders of the former regime, which included 4 generals of the Imperial Iranian Army, were sentenced to death by order of the Islamic Revolutionary Court chaired by Sadegh Khalkhali. According to Amnesty International reports, from the triumph of the revolution until March 1980, 438 people were executed by the Islamic Revolutionary Court.

Execution of Bahais

From the beginning of the 1979 revolution in Iran to the present, approximately 202 Bahais have been executed by the Islamic government for their belief in the Bahai faith or for its promotion and propagation.

Summer 1988 Executions

The execution of political prisoners in the summer of 1988 was an event in which, by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, thousands of political and ideological prisoners in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran were secretly executed in the months of August and September 1988 and buried in mass graves. In general, the prisoners’ crime was deemed to be cooperation with organizations opposed to the Islamic Republic system, particularly the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, as well as various spectrums of leftist, 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 United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights reported that the number of executed political prisoners was at least 1,879 people.

Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

During the period of governance of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the UN General Assembly, with the exception of a year or two, has issued a resolution almost every year regarding violations of human rights by the Islamic Republic government. In the UN General Assembly Resolution No. A/RES/64/176 issued in April 2010, the assembly condemned Iran in many respects, including the government’s treatment of protesters regarding the results of the Iranian presidential elections (2009). The Islamic Republic of Iran strictly tramples on civil freedoms, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, associations, and personal freedoms, and has created obstacles in the path of religious freedoms.

Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Over 49 percent of Iran’s population consists of ethnic minorities. The constitution grants all ethnic minorities equal rights and allows the use of minority languages in media, schools, and weekly radio and television programs. Nevertheless, linguistic minorities have never been allowed to use their own languages in schools. A small number of minority groups sought separation. Instead, they complained of economic and political discrimination. State radio and television broadcast programs in various ethnic languages.

Sunnis in Iran own more than 15,000 mosques, and currently there are 9 mosques for Sunnis in Tehran.

Non-Muslim Communities

During the final review of the constitution of the Islamic Republic, the debate about “whether Islam should be mentioned as the official religion in the constitution” ended in favor of Shiite Islamists. Finally, Article 12 of the Iranian constitution introduced “Islam and the Twelver Ja’fari School” as the official religion of the country and stated that other Islamic schools such as Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali, and Zaydi could act according to their jurisprudence. Influential clerics at that time opposed the request of representatives of non-Muslim communities (such as Jews, Bahais, and Zoroastrians) to officially recognize their religions as official religions of the country and insisted that non-Muslims should be considered under the “dhimma” (protected status). Finally, Article 13 of the constitution was approved with only 6 opposing votes (four non-Muslim representatives and two other representatives). According to this article, Iranian Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians are the only recognized religious minorities who are free within the bounds of law to perform their religious ceremonies and act according to their own tradition in personal affairs and religious education.

According to some, the mention of “only religious minorities” in this article ultimately resulted in other religious communities (including Bahais 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 regarding religious minorities. This article, which refers to the issue of inheritance, states: “An infidel does not inherit from a Muslim, and if among the heirs of a deceased infidel there is a Muslim, the infidel’s heirs do not inherit; even if they are superior in rank and degree to the Muslim.” In Iranian courts, religious minorities are subject to this article, and in inheritance matters are considered among “infidels.” Of course, this law provides an opportunity for exploitation by self-serving individuals.

In the Islamic Penal Code, in the case of punishing a murderer, if the victim is Muslim, retaliation is provided, but in the same law, if the victim is from religious minorities (non-Muslim), the murderer’s punishment is blood money. Other differences and legal discrimination against non-Muslim citizens in Iran include 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 negligence of officials are other problems faced by non-Muslim Iranian citizens. After the triumph of the 1979 revolution, for years religious minorities were deprived of having their own schools. Statements on order and detailed parliamentary records indicate repeated complaints by their representatives in parliament. Even after the reopening of these schools, the appointment of Muslim administrators to these schools, despite the protests of religious minorities, has been another problem for this group of Iranians. An issue that, after years, has not been fully resolved, and some schools of religious minorities are managed by Muslim administrators.

This set of issues has led, according to Robert Boglarian, representative of Southern Armenians in the seventh, eighth, and ninth sessions of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to the phenomenon of migration being the most important challenge facing religious minorities at present.

Azerbaijanis

The current leader of Iran, Sayed Ali Khamenei, is himself of Azerbaijani ethnicity and from Khameneh and speaks Turkish. However, some Azerbaijanis have always protested against ethnic and linguistic discrimination, including the prohibition of teaching Azerbaijani language in schools, harassment of Azerbaijani political activists, and changes to Azerbaijani geographic names. In May 2007, extensive demonstrations were held in Azerbaijani-speaking cities of Iran protesting a cartoon published by an Iranian newspaper, resulting in the arrest of 300 people and the deaths of 4 protesters. Iranian government officials attributed the instigators of these demonstrations to Israel. Abbas Banai Kazemi was sentenced to 16 months in prison for participating in these demonstrations.

Kurds

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

Arab People

Following three bombings in 2005 and 2006 in Khuzestan Province of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Court issued orders for the execution of 11 Arabs in connection with the bombings. The government blamed foreign powers and foreign governments for this violence. Some human rights activists have stated that the defendants in the bombings did not receive fair trials.

Jews

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

The education 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. Regarding the progress of Jews in terms of specialized professions, particularly in state institutions, there are restrictions.

Political Executions

After the 1979 revolution, a number of officials of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s government were executed, and also in the summer of 1988, a number of members of groups opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran were executed.

Criminal Executions

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

In 2008 in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 70 to 80 criminals were awaiting execution. In 2005, a sixteen-year-old girl was executed in public in the town of Neka for what was called “unlawful sexual relations.”

Based on Islamic laws enforced in Iran, homosexuals, if homosexuality is proven, face execution, and judges can choose from five methods, including throwing the criminal from a height or collapsing a wall on them, the manner of execution. 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 contradict this convention.

Violence

Under Iranian regulations, corporal punishment of a child by the father is permissible to the extent deemed appropriate, while Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges states to protect children from any mistreatment by parents or guardians. According to Article 22 of the Islamic Penal Code, if the father or paternal grandfather kills his child, retaliation does not apply, and he is only sentenced to pay blood money and additional punishment, but in similar circumstances, the mother is subject to retaliation.

Education

Both the constitution and the regulations on children’s rights consider the education of children to a certain age compulsory, but a high percentage of Iranian children are currently not attending school due to economic problems. The lack of identification registration and the absence of identification documents for children who have an Afghan father and Iranian mother has made it impossible for them to enroll and study in any school without a national ID, which contradicts the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Homosexuals

There are no accurate statistics on the number of homosexuals executed since the 1979 revolution in Iran, but human rights activists believe that more than four thousand homosexual men and women have been executed in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Homosexual Men

Iranian law condemns men who commit same-sex sexual acts for the first time to various punishments, including execution, if penetration has occurred. In cases where penetration has not occurred, these individuals receive a maximum of 100 lashes. According to Iran’s criminal laws, to prove sodomy, there is a need for four confessions by the individual or the testimony of four just male witnesses. However, judges can also accept circumstantial evidence.

Homosexual Women

Women who commit same-sex acts (tribadism) for the fourth time may be sentenced to death.

Privacy

In 2007, law enforcement arrested 150,000 people for improper hijab and forced them to sign “commitment letters” to comply with dress codes according to government standards.

Also in that year, airport security police stopped more than 17,000 people who traveled through Iranian airports because of their clothing, questioned them, arrested 850 women, and forced them to sign commitment letters. 130 others were also pursued 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.

Based on the 2012 Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum, among 135 countries, Iran ranks 127th in terms of inequality between women and men, which is highly regrettable.