USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Repression in Iran

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:

Iran Country Update – This country update reports on widespread religious repression in Iran. Baha’is, Christian converts, Sunnis, and Gonabadi Sufis in particular continue to face ongoing violations of their freedom of religion or belief. The Iranian government continues its widescale arrests of Baha’is, and despite a Supreme Court decision to the contrary, courts in Iran continue to convict Christians on national security charges for membership in house churches. The country update also notes the violation of religious freedom for women in Iran, including a recent crackdown on women not observing mandatory religious head covering laws, and lenient punishments rooted in religion for the perpetrators of so-called “honor killings.” It also notes the religious grounding of laws making Iran one of the few countries that actively executes gay men, and outlawing sexual contact between women.

In its 2022 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S State Department designate Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations. USCIRF recently held a hearing on “State-Sanctioned Religious Freedom Violations and Coercion by Saudi Arabia and Iran” and highlighted the situation for religious prisoners of conscience in Iran on an episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].