Capital punishment in Iran in the context of "Criminalisation of homosexuality"

Baháʼís are persecuted in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where a large Baháʼí population still lives. The persecution stems from the traditional Islamic perspective that Baháʼí teachings are inconsistent with Islamic beliefs, including the finality of Muhammad's prophethood, and the placement of Baháʼís outside the Islamic religion. Thus, Baháʼís are seen as apostates from Islam.

The United Nations, European Union, rights groups including Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and scholarship have documented how the Baháʼí community in Iran has been subjected to the denial of civil rights, false imprisonment, torture, unjustified executions and the confiscation and destruction of property. According to HRW, the Iranian government’s long-term, systematic campaign against the Bahá’ís rises to the level of the crime against humanity of persecution. Baháʼís have also been significantly persecuted in Egypt.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Iran face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Sexual activity between members of the same sex is illegal and can be punishable by death, and people can legally change their sex at birth only through sex reassignment surgery.

LGBTQ rights in Iran have come in conflict with the penal code since the 1930s. In post-revolutionary Iran, any type of sexual activity outside a heterosexual marriage is forbidden. Same-sex sexual activities are punishable by imprisonment, corporal punishment, fines, or execution. Gay men have faced stricter enforcement actions under the law than lesbians.

The state of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been regarded as very poor. The United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission have condemned prior and ongoing abuses in Iran in published critiques and several resolutions. The government is criticized both for restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitution and law, and for "extrajudicial" actions by state actors, such as the torture, rape, and killing of political prisoners, and the beatings and killings of dissidents and other civilians. Capital punishment in Iran remains a matter of international concern.

Restrictions and punishments in the Islamic Republic of Iran which violate international human rights norms include harsh penalties for crimes, punishment of victimless crimes such as fornication and homosexuality, execution of offenders under 18 years of age, restrictions on freedom of speech and the press (including the imprisonment of journalists), and restrictions on freedom of religion and gender equality in the Islamic Republic's Constitution (especially ongoing persecution of Baháʼís).