The Islamic Republic of Iran is a theocratic, authoritarian state with restricted political participation. Ninety to 95 percent of the population are Shi’a Muslim, while Sunni Muslims account for 5–10 percent. Approximately 0.3 percent ascribe to other religions, including the Baha’i faith, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Judaism. While the Jaafari (Twelver) school of Shi’a Islam is the official religion, the constitution extends full respect to the five major Sunni schools. It also recognizes Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians as protected minorities. Five of the parliament’s 290 seats are reserved for religious minorities—two for Armenian Christians and one each for Assyrian/Chaldean Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians. There are two Hindu temples, and Buddhism has historic influences. Iran is home to several other religious groups that face persecution, including Mandeans, Yarsanis, nonbelievers, and followers of spiritual movements. In December 2016, President Hassan Rouhani publicly released a nonbinding Charter on Citizens’ Rights, but religious minorities have seen little change based on this document. Persecution of Religious Minorities In May, officials at Fashafoye Prison denied medical care to Sufi prisoners and moved four Sufis into Ward 5 of the prison, where there were known cases of COVID-19. In September, officials at Evin Prison gave medicines to Sufi activist Benham Majoubi without his consent that caused limb numbness, paralysis, and loss of consciousness. Officials then sent Majoubi to Aminabad Hospital while denying him access to crucial medicine. Mahjoubi died in February 2021. Iran also escalated its persecution of Christians in 2020, particularly converts from Islam. Officials lashed Christian convert Mohammed Reza Omidi 80 times for drinking communion wine in October following his completion of a two-year sentence for participation in a house church. In February, the IRGC arrested Christian convert Mary Mohammadi at a peaceful protest in Tehran. She was held incognito and subjected to beatings and sexual assault at the Vozara Detention Center. At a court hearing in April, Judge Javad Ahmadi from Branch 1167 of the Criminal Court of Tehran asked Mohammadi repeated questions about her faith and conversion from Islam to Christianity that had no bearing on her charge of “disturbing public order.” In April she was sentenced to three months and one day in prison and ten lashes. However, her sentence was suspended for a year. In January 2020, Branch 105 of the Civil Court in Shiraz sentenced Christian convert Ismaeil Maghrebinejad to three years in prison for “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs.” In February, he was given an additional two-year sentence for promoting “Evangelical Zionist Christianity,” and in May he received an additional year for “propaganda against the state.” In September, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence coerced a judge in Bushire to rule that a Christian couple who converted from Islam must return their adopted daughter to the care of the state because she was Muslim. The ruling came despite fatwas from two Shi’a grand ayatollahs deeming the adoption consistent with Islamic legal interpretations. Iran also continued its systematic repression of Baha’is, including a mass raid on about 50 Baha’i houses in late November. A court official in Shiraz threatened to “uproot” Baha’is in the city in late spring. In March, 30 Baha’is were summoned to Branch 10 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court on grounds related to a 2016 Ministry of Intelligence case against them. In April, Judge Hojjat Nabavi from Branch 2 of the Birjand Revolutionary Court sentenced nine Baha’is to lengthy prison sentences for “membership in the illegal and antisecurity deviant Baha’i sect.” While one was acquitted, the court denied an October appeal by the eight other Baha’is. Key U.S. Policy The Trump administration continued its “maximum pressure” tactic in 2020 as high-level officials, including then Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, repeatedly highlighted the plight of persecuted religious minorities. In August, Elliot Abrams replaced U.S. Department of State Iran Envoy Brian H. Hook. In January 2020, the United States killed IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassim Soleimani in Baghdad, Iraq, for “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” Later that month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blocked the domain of the semiofficial Iranian Fars News Agency. Throughout 2020, the Treasury Department sanctioned high-ranking Iranian officials responsible for severe religious freedom violations, including Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi. At the February 2020 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, then President Donald J. Trump called on Iran to free jailed Christian convert Mary Mohammadi. In October, the United States supported a United Nations resolution condemning human rights restrictions in Iran, including religious freedom violations. On December 2, the State Department redesignated Iran as a CPC under IRFA and reimposed existing travel restrictions on Iranian individuals connected with the commission of serious human rights abuses. While approximately 12 religiously persecuted Iranians were admitted to the United States in 2019 under the bipartisan Lautenberg Amendment, at the end of 2020 nearly 80 fully vetted Iranians remained in Vienna, Austria, awaiting final approval to travel to the United States for resettlement. U S C I R F – R E C O M M E N D E D F O R C O U N T R I E S O F PA R T I C U L A R C O N C E R N ( C P C ) 27 IRAN Background