Reports
Iran’s government “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so,” according to the State Department’s annual report on human trafficking. “Officials continued to perpetrate and condone trafficking crimes with impunity…
Iran executed at least 853 people in 2023, a 48 percent rise compared to 2022, according to Amnesty International’s annual report on the death penalty. Iran executed more people than any other country except China. “The Iranian authorities showed complete disregard for human life and ramped up…
In 2023, Iran restricted freedom of belief and persecuted religious minorities, according to an annual report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released on May 1, 2024. The Islamic Republic, a Shiite theocracy, conducted mass arrests of Baha’is, a minority that the…
Iranian security forces and authorities mistreated refugees, largely from Afghanistan, though physical abuse, detention, forced labor, separating families, restricting movement within Iran and restricting access to jobs, education and other services, the State Department reported. Iran has absorbed…
Iran’s poor record on women’s rights further deteriorated in 2023, the State Department reported. They faced “increased discrimination through expanded application of punishments against people who violated the mandatory dress code,” Ambassador Robert Gilchrist, the Senior Official in the Bureau of…
Iran’s laws, based on a conservative interpretation of Shiite Islam, did not provide any protections to or recognize LGBTQI+ individuals, couples, or their families in 2023, the State Department reported. Same-sex sexual activity, consensual and nonconsensual, was criminalized. And “security forces…
Iran discriminated against ethnic and religious minorities in 2023, the State Department reported. For example, the death penalty was “disproportionately applied against members of the Baluchi and Kurdish ethnic minorities,” Ambassador Robert Gilchrist, the Senior Official in the Bureau of…
Iran increasingly used executions and detentions to suppress dissent in 2023, according to the State Department. Many people were reportedly executed for homicide or drug crimes, but others were killed for criticizing the government. The death penalty was “often applied after sham trials against…
Iran stifled freedom of expression in 2023 by censoring media, harassing and detaining rights activists, journalists and artists, and restricting access to the internet, the State Department reported. The Islamic Republic “showed blatant disregard to a free and open press and media environment,”…
Iran’s judicial system, including both civil and Islamic courts, failed to adhere to international standards of fairness in 2023, the State Department reported. Authorities often did not uphold rights guaranteed under the constitution, including access to a lawyer. One major loophole was the…