Iran Defamation Laws: Civil, Criminal & Defences

In Iran, defamation is treated mainly as a criminal matter. The Islamic Penal Code (Qanun-e Mojazat-e Eslami) punishes defamation and insult, including the religious offence of qazf (false accusation of unchastity), the Press Law restricts published falsehoods and insults, and the Computer Crimes Law reaches online defamation. Civil compensation for reputational harm is more limited and secondary to the criminal regime.

Is defamation civil, criminal, or both in Iran?

It is predominantly criminal. Iran's principal source of defamation law is the Islamic Penal Code, which treats attacks on reputation as ta'zir offences (discretionary punishments) and, for false accusations of unchastity, as a hadd offence with a fixed religious punishment. Two further statutes layer on top: the Press Law (1986, amended 2000) restricts what may be published, and the Computer Crimes Law (enacted 2009 and in force from 2010) reaches online speech. Civil compensation for harm to reputation exists in principle under Iran's general civil-liability rules, but in practice reputation is protected mainly through criminal complaints and punishments rather than through civil damages awards. Because several laws overlap, the same statement, especially one published or posted online, can attract more than one charge.

What counts as criminal defamation under the Islamic Penal Code?

The Islamic Penal Code separates several reputation offences. Article 697 covers eftera, the false attribution of a crime or offence to a named person through the press or any other medium, where the accusation cannot be proven; it is punishable by one month to one year in prison or up to 74 lashes, and is prosecuted only on the complaint of the person harmed. Article 698 covers publishing lies or false statements, or attributing false statements to others, in order to harm a person or to disturb public opinion or the minds of officials, and carries up to two years in prison or up to 74 lashes. Insult (towhin) is dealt with separately, including insulting ordinary persons and, in aggravated form, insulting officials. These offences turn on the falsity or offensiveness of the statement rather than on civil damage.

Watch out: Article 698 reaches not only false statements about a person but also publishing falsehoods that disturb public opinion, which has been applied to journalists and online critics, so its scope is wider than ordinary private-reputation defamation.

What is qazf, and how is it different?

Qazf is a distinct, religiously grounded offence and is not the same as ordinary defamation. Defined in the Islamic Penal Code (Articles 245 and 246), qazf is falsely accusing another person of zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) or livat (sodomy). It is classified as a hadd offence, meaning the punishment is fixed by religious law rather than left to judicial discretion, and the punishment is eighty lashes. Because qazf protects against a specific category of false sexual accusation, it sits apart from the general defamation provisions in Articles 697 and 698. Like ordinary defamation, qazf is generally pursued on the complaint of the accused person and can be forgiven by the complainant, which can extinguish the punishment.

What are the insult and state-protection offences?

Several offences protect officials and state and religious figures, and they are separate from ordinary defamation. Article 609 punishes insulting the heads of the three branches of government, vice-presidents, ministers, members of parliament, or other officials while they are performing their duties, with three to six months in prison, up to 74 lashes, or a fine of 50,000 to one million rials. Article 514 punishes insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic (Imam Khomeini) or the Supreme Leader with six months to two years in prison. Article 513 punishes insulting Islamic sanctities. The Press Law separately bars publishing insults against Islam, the Leader, and officials, and libel against individuals. These provisions treat the conduct as an offence against the State or against religion rather than as a private reputation claim.

How does the Press Law treat defamation?

The Press Law (1986, amended 2000) restricts published content and provides both administrative and criminal consequences. It prohibits, among other things, insulting Islam and its sanctities, offending the Leader of the Revolution, publishing libel against officials or insulting persons, and spreading rumours and untrue statements. The Law also creates a statutory right of reply: where a publication contains insult, libel, or false statements about a person, the affected party may demand that the publication print a response free of charge in a subsequent issue. Penalties available under the Press framework include cancellation of a publication's licence and referral of editors and writers to the courts, where general Penal Code provisions such as Article 698 may be applied. The Press Law thus channels media defamation into a combination of corrective, administrative, and criminal measures.

How is online defamation treated?

Online defamation is reached by the Computer Crimes Law, enacted in 2009 and in force from 2010. Article 16 punishes altering a person's image, audio, or video and publishing it in a way that brings them into disrepute, with 91 days to two years in prison or a fine of five million to forty million rials, with a higher penalty where the content is obscene. Article 17 punishes publishing a person's private images, audio, or video without consent in a way that damages reputation. Article 18 punishes disseminating lies through computer systems with intent to harm or to disturb officials, or attributing false statements to persons or authorities, again with 91 days to two years and a fine. The ordinary Penal Code defamation provisions can also apply online, so a single post may trigger overlapping charges.

What defences apply, and how is a claim brought?

Defences are narrow. For Article 697, the offence turns on the accusation being unprovable, so demonstrating that the imputed act is true and proven (for example, by a final conviction) can defeat the charge. The defamation and qazf offences are generally prosecuted only on the complaint of the person harmed and may be forgiven by the complainant, which can end the prosecution or punishment. There is no broad public-figure or fair-comment defence comparable to common-law systems, and the insult and state-protection offences leave little room for a truth or opinion defence. A person who believes they have been defamed brings a criminal complaint to the prosecutor, and the matter proceeds before the criminal courts; press cases may also involve the press supervisory bodies. This is general information about Iranian law, not legal advice for any specific dispute.