Homosexuality is illegal in Iran. The Islamic Penal Code, revised most recently in 2013, criminalizes every form of same-sex sexual conduct, and the punishments range from 31 lashes for a kiss to execution for penetrative sex between men. These laws are enforced. At least 241 executions for same-sex conduct were documented in Iran between 1979 and 2020, and documented executions have continued into the 2020s.
Penalties for Sex Between Men
The most serious offense is sodomy, called “livat” in the code. Article 233 defines it as penetrative intercourse between men and splits the participants into an “active” party (the one who penetrates) and a “passive” party. Article 234 then sets the penalties, which turn on role, marital status, and consent.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
For the active party, the death penalty applies in two situations: when he is married, or when the act was non-consensual. An unmarried active party in a consensual act receives 100 lashes. For the passive party, the rule is harsher. Consensual passive participation carries the death penalty regardless of marital status. Only a passive party subjected to force or coercion escapes execution, because the law treats him as a victim.2International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). Death Penalty: A State Killing Machine
A note to Article 234 adds a religious rule: if the active party is a non-Muslim and the passive party is a Muslim, the non-Muslim is executed regardless of other circumstances.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
Non-penetrative sexual contact between men is a separate offense called “tafkhidh.” Article 235 defines it as rubbing the sexual organ between another man’s thighs or buttocks, and Article 236 sets the penalty at 100 lashes for both participants, with no distinction by role.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
Penalties for Sex Between Women
Sexual conduct between women is classified as “musahaqa” under Article 238, defined as genital-to-genital contact. Article 239 prescribes 100 lashes for every participant, regardless of marital status or any other personal characteristic.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
Kissing, Touching, and Other Intimacy
Contact that falls short of the offenses above is still a crime. Article 237 covers kissing or touching motivated by sexual desire between people of the same sex, and sets the penalty at 31 to 74 lashes at the judge’s discretion. A note to the article confirms it applies equally to women. These charges come up frequently because they require a lower burden of proof than sodomy or musahaqa.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
A Fourth Conviction Means Death
A general provision escalates punishment for anyone convicted more than once. Article 136 provides that for any offense carrying a fixed corporal punishment under Islamic law, a fourth conviction carries the death penalty. This applies to tafkhidh, musahaqa, and the lesser intimacy offenses under Article 237. The earlier lashes must have actually been administered for the escalation to trigger.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
How the State Actually Convicts People
On paper, convicting someone of sodomy is difficult. Article 199 requires testimony from four male witnesses who personally observed the act at the same time, each meeting the legal standard of being “righteous.” Inconsistencies can collapse the case and even expose the witnesses to charges of false accusation.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
Confession is the other formal route. Under Article 232, the accused must confess four separate times before a judge, of sound mind and acting freely. A smaller number of confessions can support a lesser sentence but not the full prescribed punishment.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
Those high thresholds are undercut by a third path. Article 211 lets a judge convict based on personal knowledge drawn from circumstantial evidence rather than direct testimony or confession. The judge must explain the reasoning in writing, and the evidence can include expert opinions, crime scene inspections, statements from informed persons, police reports, and other “typically convincing indications.” Article 212 adds that when the judge’s personal knowledge conflicts with other evidence, the judge’s knowledge takes precedence. In practice, this discretion lets prosecutors bypass the four-witness and four-confession requirements entirely.1Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Islamic Penal Code
Prosecutors also use broader charges that sidestep the same-sex offense statutes altogether. The most common is “corruption on earth,” a vaguely defined capital crime that requires neither four witnesses nor four confessions. In 2022, Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani and Elham Choubdar were sentenced to death on charges of corruption on earth and human trafficking. UN human rights experts said publicly that the women had been targeted for their sexual orientation and their social media support for LGBTQ communities. Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentences later that year and sent the cases back for retrial.3Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Iran: UN Experts Demand Stay of Execution for Two Women, Including LGBT Activist
Enforcement and Surveillance
Executions for same-sex conduct are documented regularly. Two men were executed on sodomy charges in 2021. At least three more executions for same-sex offenses were reported in 2022, including two men convicted six years earlier and another person executed in June. A 31-year-old man was publicly hanged in 2020. In 2016, a 17-year-old boy was executed following a conviction for rape of another teenager, despite his repeated statements that the contact had been consensual.
Arrests often begin online. Authorities monitor dating apps and messaging platforms used by LGBTQ Iranians. Chat groups on platforms like Telegram have been infiltrated and their administrators arrested. Police use photos, videos, and other material pulled from confiscated phones as evidence, and entrapment through online platforms occurs sporadically. For LGBTQ Iranians who are visible on social media or dating apps, the daily risk of harassment, threats, and arrest is real.
Gender Reassignment Is Legal, and That Creates a Trap
Iran’s position on gender identity sits in sharp tension with its treatment of homosexuality. Gender reassignment surgery has been legal since the late 1980s, when Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa declaring it permissible under Islamic law.4International Journal of Transgenderism. Islamic Sharia Law, Neotraditionalist Muslim Scholars and Transgender Sex-Reassignment Surgery The state frames the surgery as a medical correction, covers it through public health insurance, offers modest grants on completion, and issues updated identification documents in the person’s new legal gender.
Because the state recognizes gender transition but criminalizes same-sex attraction, gay and lesbian Iranians face intense pressure to undergo surgery they do not want. Psychologists at state-run clinics have reported being instructed to tell gay patients they are “sick” and need treatment, with surgery presented as the cure. Officials have promised patients legal documents, permission to dress as they wish, and loans to cover costs. Families sometimes threaten violence against relatives who refuse. One estimate suggests roughly 45 percent of people who have undergone gender reassignment surgery in Iran are gay rather than transgender.