Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Iran.
Crimes punishable by death include murder; rape; child molestation; sodomy; drug trafficking; armed robbery; kidnapping; terrorism; burglary; pedophilia; homosexuality; incestuous relations; fornication; prohibited sexual relations; sexual misconduct; prostitution; plotting to overthrow the Islamic regime; political dissidence; sabotage; arson; rebellion; apostasy; adultery; blasphemy; extortion; counterfeiting; smuggling; speculating; disrupting production; recidivist consumption of alcohol; producing or preparing food, drink, cosmetics or sanitary items that lead to death when consumed or used; producing and publishing pornography; using pornographic materials to solicit sex; recidivist false accusation of capital sexual offenses causing execution of an innocent person; recidivist theft; certain military offenses (e.g. cowardice, assisting the enemy); "enmity against God"; "corruption on earth"; espionage and treason. Iran carried out at least 977 executions in 2015, at least 567 executions in 2016, and at least 507 executions in 2017.
Iran is believed to execute the most people per capita. However, other countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria allegedly carry out secret executions. Iran insists that the execution numbers human rights groups allege are exaggerated, and that executions are only carried out after a lengthy judicial process. Iranian officials cite that they are fighting a large-scale drug war along its eastern borders, and the increase of drug lords and dealers causes a rise in executions.
Iran has garnered Western media attention and criticism for allegedly carrying out executions of minors despite having signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which forbids executing child offenders for crimes committed under the age of 18. Iran justifies its actions by claiming dispensation in cases where the Convention is deemed "incompatible with Islamic jurisprudence".
Iran has also been criticized for allegedly using stoning as capital punishment, though an Iranian judiciary spokesman fiercely denied the accusations of stoning and executing minors, describing these as propaganda against the Iranian state.
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