Iran
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- theocratic republic
- CONSTITUTION
- December 1979, revised in 1989 to extend presidential power
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on Sharia law
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court
RELIGIONS
Shia majority; 10% Sunni; Christian, Jewish, Bahá'í, and Zoroastrian minorities
From the country
- APRIL 18, 2017IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: THREE PRISONERS HANGED IN SHIRAZ AND TABRIZ
Three inmates were executed in the prisons of Shiraz and Tabriz.
APRIL 13, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: MAN WHO KILLED SIX IN SHOOTING SPREE PUBLICLY HANGED IN ARAK
A man convicted of murdering six people in a shooting spree was publicly executed in Iran, according to the Tasnim news agency.
APRIL 12, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: PRISONER WITH MENTAL ILLNESS EXECUTED ON MURDER CHARGES
A prisoner who reportedly suffered from a mental illness was hanged at Tabriz Central Prison on murder charges.
APRIL 9, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: HUNDREDS RALLY IN TEHRAN IN PROTEST AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
Hundreds of families of prisoners on death row, especially women, rallied on the morning in front of parliament, demanding the abolition of the death penalty.
APRIL 5, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: INMATE EXECUTED AFTER SUFFERING HEART ATTACK
MARCH 24, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: YOUNG MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR INSULTING THE PROPHET
Iran’s supreme court upheld a death sentence for a young man in Arak, central Iran, after he was found guilty of “insulting the Prophet Muhammad” on the Internet.
MARCH 20, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO PRISONERS HANGED ON DRUG CHARGES
The death sentences of two prisoners were reportedly carried out at Adel Abad Prison (Lorestan province, western Iran).
MARCH 16, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: UNIDENTIFIED PRISONER HANGED ON DRUG CHARGES
An unidentified prisoner was reportedly hanged at Semnan Prison (northern Iran) on drug related charges.
MARCH 15, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: WRITER AND TRANSLATOR DAVARI SENTENCED TO DEATH
Marjan Davari, a 50-year-old researcher and translator, has been convicted of ‘spreading corruption on earth’ and sentenced to death by Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court.
MARCH 14, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: FOUR PRISONERS EXECUTED ON DRUG RELATED CHARGES
Four prisoners were hanged at Darya, Urmia's central prison (West Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran), on drug related charges, according to the human rights news agency, HRANA.
MARCH 12, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 2 SECT LEADERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Iran has sentenced to death a man and a woman who it says had created a new sect, Tasnim news agency reported.
MARCH 12, 2017IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: THREE PRISONERS HANGED IN ZAHEDAN
According to the Baloch Activists Campaign, three prisoners were hanged at Zahedan Central Prison in Iran's Sistan & Baluchestan province on drug related charges.