Iran

Iran criminalizes same-sex sexual relations with a maximum penalty of death. Iran allows transgender people who have undergone gender-affirming surgery to change their legal gender markers, but transgender Iranians are still subject to violence, discrimination, social rejection, and harassment. Iran has strict censorship laws that are used to ban LGBTIQ-related media and communications. The UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran reported in March 2025 that LGBTQ+ people are subjected to “discriminatory public statements by officials, at the highest levels.” During protests that were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, LGBTIQ people also joined calls demanding rights and freedoms. Although this caused a political backlash, it also strengthened the visibility of LGBTIQ movements in Iran. The fact-finding mission also found that LGBTQ+ people arrested in the context of the protest were subjected to “dehumanising insults, threats and treatment amounting to torture,” and that these violations may constitute gender persecution.

In 2025, Iran continued to exhibit severe restrictions on fundamental rights, with authorities systematically repressing dissent, political activism, and civil society. Iranian authorities continued to target women human rights defenders, ethnic and religious minorities, and families of victims of previous anti-government protests, while arbitrarily arresting activists, students, journalists, and lawyers. Executions remained alarmingly high, including for vague national security offenses, crimes committed as minors, and nonviolent acts.

Iranian authorities continue to systematically discriminate against women and girls, treating them as second-class citizens in marriage, divorce, custody, employment, and political participation. Compulsory veiling laws were strictly enforced through digital surveillance, harassment, imprisonment, flogging, and denial of education and public services. At the same time, activists and lawyers advocating for LGBTIQ people’s rights face censorship, harassment, and arbitrary arrest by the Islamic Republic. Iranian authorities often refer to vague laws on “morality” or “national security” to silence dissent and target individuals who promote the rights of sexual and gender minorities.

In February 2024, Iranian authorities arrested Elham Choubdar, a 26-year-old LGBTIQ human rights activist in Urmia (West Azerbaijan province), and sentenced her to three years’ imprisonment. Choubdar was initially sentenced to death on charges of “corruption on earth by propagation of homosexuality,” “promotion of Christianity,” and “collaboration with opposition parties” in September 2023. However, the Supreme Court of Iran overturned the death sentence, and she was temporarily released on bail before receiving the February 2024 sentence.