USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom in Iran

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:

Iran Country Update – This report provides an overview of religious freedom conditions in Iran in 2023. It enumerates various forms of repression that Iran’s government has used to target religious minorities and those whose views differ from the government’s religiously-grounded interpretations. These include state-perpetrated killings, imprisonment, torture, sexual and gender based violence, bodily injury, and enforced disappearances. The report concludes by urging policy makers to take seriously the grave nature of religious freedom violations in Iran, particularly as it pertains to supporting multilateral actions that include a United Nations Security Council referral of the matter of Iran to the International Criminal Court.

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State redesignate Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations. In November 2022, the U.S. Department of State redesignated Iran as a CPC. In April 2023, USCIRF released a report highlighting the sexual and gender based violence against religious freedom protestors in Iran. In May, USCIRF held a hearing on transnational repression and religious freedom, including repression by the government of Iran.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].