Press room

Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza PAHLAVI was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces established a theocratic system of government with ultimate political authority vested in a learned religious scholar referred to commonly as the Supreme Leader who, according to the constitution, is accountable only to the Assembly of...

This chart documents executions of people by the Islamic Republic of Iran beginning in December 2010. The official announcements are noted but, as the Iranian government does not announce many executions, it is difficult to know the exact number. IHRDC is thus unable to confirm the unofficial reports but has provided links to PDFs of the original sources. It will update this list on a regular basis.

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction...