Category: Resources

Book Five- Ta’zir and Deterring Punishments

Chapter One- Crimes against the national and foreign security of the State

Article 498 – Anyone, with any ideology, who establishes or directs a group, society, or branch, inside or outside the country, with any name or title, that constitutes more than two individuals and aims to perturb the security of the country, if not considered as mohareb, shall be sentenced to two to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 499– Anyone who joins, as a member, any of the groups, societies, or branches aforementioned in article 498, shall be sentenced to three months to five years’ imprisonment, unless it is proved that he had been unaware of its aims.

Article 500– Anyone who engages in any type of propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran or in support of opposition groups and associations, shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment.

Article 501– Anyone who, knowingly and intentionally, provides maps or secrets or documents and decisions regarding the national or international policies of the State to those who are not authorized to have access, or who informs them about their content in a way that constitutes espionage, taking into consideration the circumstances and stages [of the crime], shall be sentenced to one to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 502– Anyone who commits one of the espionage crimes inside Iran in favor of a foreign State and against another foreign State, if damages the national security [of Iran] shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 503– Anyone who enters [political or military or security] places with the intent to steal or draw maps or gather information about political or military or security secrets, and also those who are arrested while drawing maps or filming or taking pictures from military bastions or prohibited places, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 504– Anyone who effectively encourages combatants or those in military forces to rebel, escape, surrender, or disobey military orders, with the intention to overthrow the government or to defeat national forces against the enemy, shall be considered as mohareb; otherwise [if he does not possess the intention] if his acts are effective he shall be sentenced to two to ten years, and if not, to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 505– Anyone who, with the intention to disrupt national security, gathers information through any means under the cover of State authorities or government officials, if they intend to provide them to others shall be sentenced to two to ten years’ imprisonment [if successful], and otherwise to one to five years’ imprisonment [if unsuccessful].

Article 506– If, due to their negligence and disregarding security protocols, government officials who are responsible for classified security and intelligence affairs and have received the required training reveal information to enemies, they shall be sentenced to one to six months’ imprisonment.

Article 507– Anyone who is a member of corrupt groups or among those who act against national security, provided that he is not in a leading position and before being prosecuted, reports the plot and names of those engaged in the conspiracy and corruption to the officials, or cooperates effectively with the officials after he is prosecuted, shall be exempted from punishment; and if he has personally committed another crime, he shall be only sentenced for that crime.

Article 508– Anyone who cooperates by any means with foreign States against the Islamic Republic of Iran, if not considered as mohareb, shall be sentenced to one to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 509– Anyone who during wartime commits one of the crimes against national and foreign security of the State mentioned in this chapter, shall be sentenced to the highest punishment prescribed for the same crime.

Article 510– Anyone who, with the intent to disrupt national security or aid the enemy, recognizes and hides, or assists in hiding, spies who have a mission to gather information or cause damage to the country, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Note- Anyone who, without spying or hiding spies, identifies and attracts some people by any means and introduces them to enemy States or foreign countries for espionage purposes against the national security [of the Islamic Republic of Iran] shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 511– Anyone who, with the intent to disrupt national security and disturb public opinion, threatens to plant bombs in an airplane, ship, and/or other public means of transportation, or claims that the aforementioned means of transportation have been rigged with bomb(s), in addition to compensation for damages caused to the government and people, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 512– Anyone who, with the intent to disrupt national security, induces or encourages people to war with one another and slaughter each other, regardless of whether or not [such actions] cause murder and ravage, shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment.

Note- Where it can be proven that the accused repented [for their actions] before being caught by the State, articles (508) and (509) and (512) are not applicable.

Chapter Two- Insulting sacred religious values and criminal attempt on national authorities

Article 513– Anyone who insults the sacred values of Islam or any of the Great Prophets or [twelve] Shi’ite Imams or the Holy Fatima, if considered as Saab ul-nabi [as having committed actions warranting the hadd punishment for insulting the Prophet], shall be executed; otherwise, they shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 514– Anyone who, by any means, insults Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and/or the Supreme Leader shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 515– Anyone who makes an attempt on the lives of the Supreme Leader or the Heads of Powers [of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature] or the Grand Ayatollahs, if not considered as mohareb, shall be sentenced to three to ten years’ imprisonment.

Chapter Three- Attempt on the lives of foreign diplomatic officials

Article 516– Anyone who makes an attempt on the life of a foreign Head of State, or its Diplomatic Representative, in the jurisdiction of Iran, shall be sentenced to the same punishment mentioned in article (515), subject to the mutual treatment by the same State towards Iran; but, if a lighter punishment is prescribed, the same punishment shall be imposed.

Article 517– Anyone who publically insults a foreign Head of State, or its Diplomatic Representative, who enter the territory of Iran, shall be sentenced to one month imprisonment, subject to the mutual treatment by the same State towards Iran.

Note- The application of the articles of this chapter is subject to the request of the relevant State or its diplomatic representative, or the victim or his guardian. The Prosecution shall be stopped if the complaint is withdrawn.

Chapter Four- Producing and distributing fake coins

Article 518– Anyone who produces, or deliberately imports into the country, or buys or sells any kind of counterfeit domestic or foreign gold or silver coin, such as coins from Iran’s previous governments, or the Lira or other exchangeable currencies, or distributes any fake coins shall be sentenced to one to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 519– Anyone who, with the intention of deception, detracts from the weight of Iranian or foreign gold or silver coins by any means such as scraping, cutting and the like, or knowingly and deliberately engages in the distribution of such coins, or imports them into the country, shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 520– Anyone who produces any kind of counterfeit domestic or foreign current coins other than gold or silver, or, knowingly and deliberately, imports them into the country, or engages in the distribution of such coins, or buys or sells them, shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 521– When the individuals who commit the crimes mentioned in articles (518) and (519) and (520) inform the authorities before the crime is discovered, or facilitate the arrest of others by their confession while the prosecution is carried out, or effectively aid and guide the government authorities, by proposal of Director of the Judicial District and agreement of the court, or at the discretion of the court, their punishment shall be duly mitigated, and if appropriate they shall be exempted from imprisonment; unless it is proved that they repented [for the crime] prior to their arrest, in which case they shall be exempted from all said punishments.

Article 522– In addition to the punishments mentioned in articles (518) and (519) and (520), the property acquired as a result of the commission of the said offences shall be confiscated.

Chapter Five- Forging and counterfeiting

Article 523– Forging and counterfeiting are defined as producing a writing or document or producing an official or non-official persons’ stamp or signature, scratching or tampering or adding or erasing or generating or crossing out or changing the date in comparison to the actual date or enclosing a writing to another writing or using someone else’s stamp without their permission, and the like, with the intention of deception.

Article 524– Anyone who forges the orders or signature or stamp or handwriting of the Supreme Leader or the Heads of Powers [of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature] in respect to their official position, or uses [the aforementioned] with knowledge of the forgery and counterfeit, shall be sentenced to three to fifteen years’ imprisonment.

Article 525– Anyone who forges one of the following or uses or imports them into the country while being aware of the forgery and counterfeit, in addition to compensation for damages, shall be sentenced to one to ten years imprisonment.

1- Orders or signature or stamp of the First Deputy of the President of the State, or Ministers, or stamp or signature of the Members of the Guardian Council or Members of Parliament or Council of Experts or Judges or any one of the chairpersons or civil servants and officials in respect to their official position.

2- Seal or stamp or emblem of one of the governmental companies or organizations or departments or Islamic revolutionary bodies.

3- Verdicts of courts or documents or bills issued by the National Treasury.

4- Seal or mark used for determining the purity of Gold and silver.

5- Domestic or foreign currencies or bank bills such as accepted bills of exchange by banks or checks issued by banks and other types of binding bank instruments.

Note- Anyone who, deliberately and without holding the required documents and official domestic and foreign permission, and with the intent to inspire doubts in the quality of products and services, uses the title and emblem of national or international standards shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment prescribed in this article.

Article 526– Anyone who, with the intent to disrupt the banking system or financial or economic situation or to disrupt the political and social system and security [of the country], forges domestic or foreign currencies or bank bills such as accepted bills of exchange by banks or checks issued by banks and other types of binding bank instruments and documents or bills issued by the National Treasury, or imports them into the country or uses them with the knowledge that they are fake, if he is not considered as mofsed or mohareb, shall be sentenced to five to twenty years’ imprisonment.

Article 527– Anyone who forges certificates of studying or graduation or transcripts of universities and higher education organizations inside or outside the country or certificates of evaluation of foreign degrees, or uses them with the knowledge that they are fake, in addition to compensation for damages, shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment. If the perpetrator is an employee of Ministries or those organizations and institutes that belong to the government or municipalities or Islamic revolutionary bodies, or if by any means takes part in the forgery or in using the fake documents, then he shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment.

Article 528– Anyone who forges the stamp or seal of any non-governmental organizations or public bodies such as municipalities, or uses them with the knowledge that they are fake, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 529– Anyone who forges the stamp or seal of any non-governmental company established according to law or enterprise, or uses them with the knowledge that they are fake, in addition to compensation for damages, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 530– Anyone who acquires the seal or stamp of the organizations or companies or enterprises referred to in the articles above, and abuses them in a way that damages their rights and interests, or causes their abuse, in addition to compensation for damages, shall be sentenced to two months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 531– If anyone who has committed one of the crimes referred to in the articles above informs the government [of the crime] before their prosecution and exposes other perpetrators, if any, or cooperates in arresting them after the prosecution is started, their punishment shall be mitigated or they shall exempted from punishment respectively.

Article 532– Any civil servant and government official who, when carrying out their duties, tampers with orders and writings and documents and certificates and books and other types of official writings and documents (for instance if they generate a signature or stamp or make changes in a signature or stamp or to the content or add a word or change people’s names), in addition to disciplinary punishments and compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of six to thirty million Rials.

Article 533– If individuals who are not civil servants or government officials, commit any of the crimes referred to in the previous article, in addition to compensation of the damages, they shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to eighteen million Rials.

Article 534– If any civil servant of government departments and judicial bodies and anyone responsible for public services, commits forgery of documents in respect to their duties, including in cases where they change the topic or content of those documents, or tamper with written or oral statements of official authorities or the stamp or wording of the parties or present something void as valid or vice versa or something which is not admitted as admitted, in addition to disciplinary punishments and compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of six to thirty million Rials.

Article 535– Anyone who uses the forged documents referred to in articles (532) and (533) and (534) with the knowledge that they are fake, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to eighteen million Rials.

Article 536– Anyone who forges non-official documents or uses them with the knowledge that they are fake, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to twelve million Rials.

Article 537– If taking pictures of ID cards or personal identity documents and governmental and public documents and the like, causes confusion with the originals, they shall be marked with a stamp or mark to show that it is a duplicate copy or picture; otherwise, it shall be considered as a forgery and the producers and users of such documents who knowingly and deliberately use them as originals, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to twelve million Rials.

Article 538– Anyone who, whether personally or through someone else, forges a medical certificate with the intent to acquire exemption from public or military service or in order to submit to the court shall be sentenced to six months to one year’s imprisonment or a fine of three to six million Rials.

Article 539– When a medical doctor issues a false certificate to exempt someone from public or military service or in order to submit to judicial bodies, he shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to twelve million Rials. And when such certificate is used to acquire money, in addition to taking the money back and confiscating the money as a fine, he shall be sentenced to the punishment prescribed for being the recipient of a bribe.

Article 540– In the cases of other false certificates which cause damage to a third party or the National Treasury, the offender shall be sentenced to up to 74 lashes or a fine of two hundred thousand to two million Rials.

Article 541– Anyone other than the main applicant who sits any exams including entrance exams of universities and higher education institutes, teacher’s universities and training colleges, exams for sending students abroad to study, or internal or final exams of the aforementioned organizations or exams of high schools, secondary schools, technical schools, etc, the offender and applicant, in addition to disciplinary punishments, shall be sentenced to a fine of two hundred to one million Rials.

Article 542– The punishment for attempting to forge and counterfeit referred to in this chapter shall be the minimum punishment prescribed for the same crime.

Chapter Six- Removing or breaking a seal and stealing documents from governmental places

Article 543– When a place, or anything, is sealed in accordance with the order of competent officials, and someone knowingly and deliberately breaks or removes the seal, or commits an act that is considered as removing or breaking the seal, he shall be sentenced to three months to two years’ imprisonment.

If the keeper commits the [abovementioned] crime, he shall be sentenced to one to two years’ imprisonment. In case the crime is committed as a result of the keeper’s negligence, he shall be sentenced to one month to six months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes.

Article 544– When the writings or documents or booklets or notes that are recorded in official registers or kept in official places or entrusted to officials responsible for keeping them, are, wholly or in part, stolen or damaged or unlawfully destroyed, the bookkeeper and the clerk responsible for recording and keeping the aforementioned documents, as well as other individuals whose negligence resulted in the commission of the crime, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 545– The offenders of the crimes mentioned in the above article shall be sentenced to three to six months’ imprisonment; and if the keeper or trustee commits one of the abovementioned crimes he shall be sentenced to three to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 546– When the offender forcibly removes or breaks the seal or commits an act that is considered as removing or breaking the seal, or steals or destroys the writing or documents, he shall be sentenced to the abovementioned punishments accordingly. This punishment does not interfere with the punishment of [other] crimes resulting from the use of force and severity.

Chapter Seven- Escape of prisoners and concealment of offenders

Article 547– Any prisoner who escapes from a prison or detention center shall be sentenced to 74 lashes or three to six months’ imprisonment; and if he has broken or damaged the prison’s gate, in addition to compensation of the damages, he shall be sentenced to both punishments.

Note- Prisoners who are on furlough in accordance with the regulations of prisons, but, without a reasonable excuse, do not return to the prison at the ordered time, shall be regarded as fugitives and sentenced to the abovementioned punishment.

Article 548– When an accused person or a prisoner escapes as a result of recklessness or negligence of the officer who was responsible for guarding or escorting him, the abovementioned officer shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to eighteen million Rials.

Article 549– When an officer who is responsible for guarding or escorting a prisoner or detainee aids or facilitates or colludes in the escape [of the prisoner], he shall be sentenced according to the following:

A – If the detainee is accused of a crime that is punishable by execution, stoning or crucifixion or if he is a prisoner convicted to these punishments, [the offending official] shall be sentenced to three to ten years’ imprisonment; and if the prisoner is convicted to ten years’ imprisonment or more, or if the detainee is accused of a crime punishable by more than ten years’ imprisonment, he shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment; and in cases other than the abovementioned, he shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

B – If the prisoner is convicted to qisas or the detainee is accused of a crime punishable by qisas the individual responsible for his escape is obliged to turn him in, otherwise he shall be imprisoned until [the prisoner] is turned in. If the accused person is tried and acquitted in absentia, or if the homicide is determined as quasi-deliberate or accidental, the individual responsible for escape shall be sentenced to the punishment mentioned in paragraph A; and if the fugitive dies, or if it becomes impossible to turn him in, in cases where [the fugitive] is convicted to qisas, the individual responsible for his escape shall pay the diya to the blood owners of the victim.

C – If the accused or convict person who is escaped is convicted [or accused] of a financial crime or diya, the individual responsible for escape, in addition to the punishment mentioned in paragraph A,  shall pay the relevant diya or debt.

Article 550– Any civil servants or officers who are ordered to arrest an individual and act recklessly and negligently shall be sentenced to a fine of one hundred to five hundred Rials; and if the recklessness and negligence was intended to aid the escape of the prisoner and resulted in his escape, in addition to the aforementioned fine, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 551– If the individual responsible for escape is not one of the officers mentioned in article 549, and deliberately aids the escape of persons imprisoned or detained under law, he shall be sentenced according to the following:

A – If the prisoner is sentenced to execution, stoning or crucifixion, the individual responsible for the escape shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment; and if the prisoner is accused of a crime punishable by execution, stoning or crucifixion, he shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment; and in cases other than the abovementioned, he shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment.

B – If the prisoner is sentenced to qisas, the individual responsible for the escape is obliged to turn him in otherwise he shall be imprisoned until [the prisoner] is turned in. If the fugitive dies, or if it becomes impossible to turn him in, the individual responsible for his escape shall pay the diya to the blood owners of the victim.

Article 552– Anyone who arms a prisoner or detainee with a gun in order to aid [the prisoner’s] escape shall be sentenced to two to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 553– Anyone who hides, or aids the escape of, a fugitive of the law or an accused person whose arrest is ordered shall be sentenced according to the following:

When the fugitive is sentenced to execution, stoning or crucifixion or qisas or amputation of limb, the individual responsible for the escape shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment; and if the fugitive is sentenced to life imprisonment or accused of a crime punishable by execution or crucifixion, he shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment; and in cases other than the abovementioned, he shall be sentenced to one month to one year of imprisonment.

Note- If it is proved in a court of law that the individual responsible for the escape or concealment of the fugitive truly believes in his innocence, he shall be exempted from the punishment.

Article 554– Anyone who becomes aware of a crime and aids the offender to escape from trial and conviction, for instance by harboring him in a place, or concealing the evidence of the crime, or presenting fake evidence in order to acquit the offender, shall be sentenced accordingly to one to three years’ imprisonment.

Note- In the cases mentioned in article 553 and this article, if the offender is amongst the first-degree relatives of the accused person, the punishment shall not exceed half of the prescribed punishment.

Chapter Eight- Impersonation of officials and offices

Article 555– Anyone who, without an official position or permission from the government, interferes with or introduces himself as holding official governmental, military and police offices, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment; and if he has forged a document in order to interfere or introduce himself in the abovementioned offices, he shall additionally be sentenced to the punishment prescribed for forgery.

Article 556– Anyone who, publically and without permission, uses official uniforms of the military or police forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, or badges or medallions or other state grants, without, or with little, changes that cause confusion, if his act is not subject to a harsher punishment under another law, shall be sentenced to three months to one year’s imprisonment or a fine of one million and five hundred thousand Rials to six million Rials. And if he has taken advantage of his illegal act, he shall be sentenced to both punishments.

Note- Using the abovementioned uniforms and objects in theatrical arts shall not be subject to this article.

Article 557– Anyone who, publically and without permission, uses the official uniforms of foreign officers, or badges or medallions, or other grants of foreign states, in Iran, subject to mutual treatment [by the foreign state], or if the act disrupts the public order, shall be subject to the article above.

Chapter Nine- Destruction of historical and cultural assets

Article 558– Anyone who damages whole or part of any cultural, historical or religious buildings, places and sites which are listed as national heritage, or any decorations, attachments, facilities, objects and instruments and drawings and pictures installed or located in these places which independently hold cultural, historical, or religious features, in addition to compensation of damages, shall be sentenced to one to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 559– Anyone who steals objects and instruments and also materials and pieces of cultural and historical assets, from museums or galleries, or historical and religious sites and other places protected or supervised by the government, or buys or conceals the aforementioned objects while being aware that they are stolen, if he is not punishable by the hadd punishment for stealing, in addition to its restitution, shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 560– Anyone who, without permission from Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization, or by violating the regulations adopted by this organization, proceeds to any operation in the bounds of cultural and historical assets mentioned in this article that makes their foundations unsteady, or as a result of such operations the said assets and buildings are damaged or destroyed, in addition to elimination of the operation’s effects and compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 561– Any effort to take cultural and historical assets out of the country, even if unsuccessful, shall be considered as trafficking and the offender, in addition to restitution of the assets, shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment and a fine that is double the value of the assets.

Note- It is the responsibility of the Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization to determine the cultural and historical nature [of the assets].

Article 562– Any type of excavation and digging with the intent to find historical and cultural assets is prohibited and the offender shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment and confiscation of the discovered objects in favor of the Cultural Heritage Organization, and the excavation equipment and tools in favor of the government. If the excavation has taken place in historical sites and places that are listed as national heritage, or in holy shrines or religious places, in addition to confiscation of the discovered objects and the excavation equipment and tools, the offender shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Note 1 – Anyone who puts his hands, by chance, on the historical and cultural assets mentioned in this article, and does not surrender them in accordance with the regulations of Cultural Heritage Organization, shall be sentenced to confiscation of the discovered assets.

Note 2 – The purchase and sale of historical and cultural assets that are found during illegal excavations is prohibited, and in addition to confiscation of the aforementioned cultural assets, the buyer and seller shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment. If the aforementioned assets, under any title, and whether directly or indirectly, are sold to foreign nationals, the offender shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Article 563– Anyone who transgresses historical and cultural lands and hills and sites that are listed as a national heritage and do not have a private owner, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment, provided that the Cultural Heritage Organization had previously indicated and marked the boundaries and limits of these places.

Article 564– Anyone who, without permission of the Cultural Heritage Organization and against its adopted regulations, restores or repairs or reconstructs or extends the buildings or decorations of historical and cultural places which are listed as national heritage, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment and compensation of the damages.

Article 565– Anyone who, in violation of the provisions of the Law of Protection of National Heritage, conveys historical and cultural real-estate that is listed as national heritage, while having knowledge that they are listed, shall be sentenced to three to one year’s imprisonment.

Article 566– Anyone who, without permission of the Cultural Heritage Organization and contrary to what is appropriate for the property, changes the use of religious, cultural and historical buildings, places and sites that are listed as national heritage, in addition to elimination of the offense’s effects and compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to three months to one year’s imprisonment.

Article 566 bis (added on 16/06/2009)- Anyone who makes counterfeit models of cultural and historical assets, whether Iranian or foreign assets, claiming it as original, or introduces, carries or keeps it, or buys it while being aware that it is fake, with the intent to offer, smuggle or sell the asset, shall be sentenced to ninety one days to six months imprisonment and a fine of equal to half the value of the original asset according to the expert report from Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts, and Tourism Organization.

Note 1 – A “counterfeit model” is an object which is made in the contemporary era, and in terms of drawings, pictures, form, texture, size, and weight is similar to original cultural and historical assets, or is claimed to be the original cultural and historical asset when there is no such original and there is no sign on the asset from the creator or the Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts, and Tourism Organization, that distinguishes it from the original.

Note 2 – If there is no original for the counterfeit object, its value, if any, shall be assessed by the experts of the Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts, and Tourism Organization.

Note 3 – The discovered items referred to in this article shall be confiscated in favor of the Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts, and Tourism Organization. This provision shall be extended to those items that are seized before this law comes to force.

Article 567– With regard to the crimes referred to in this chapter, the Cultural Heritage Organization or other governmental departments shall be regarded as a complainant or private plaintiff.

Article 568– With regard to the crimes referred to in this chapter that are committed by legal entities, any of the directors or officials who have made the orders, shall be sentenced to the prescribed punishments.

Note- Cultural and historical assets obtained from the crimes referred to in this chapter, shall be confiscated under the supervision of the Cultural Heritage Organization; and in all cases where the assets, tools and equipments are ordered to be seized, it shall be seized in favor of the Cultural Heritage Organization.

Article 569– In all the cases in this chapter, if the damaged asset is private property and its owner was unaware that it had been listed as a national heritage, he shall be exempted from the abovementioned punishments.

Chapter Ten- Offenses of government officials and agents

Article 570 (as amended on 1/1/2003)- Any official and agent associated with State agencies and institutions, who unlawfully strips members of the public of their personal freedom or deprives them from their rights provided in the IRI Constitution, shall be sentenced to two months to three years’ imprisonment, in addition to dismissal from the service and prohibition of employment in state offices for one to five years.

Article 571– When the acts that violated the IRI Constitution are carried out as a result of a false signature of a Minister or State agent, the offender, and those who applied it knowingly, shall be sentenced to three to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 572– When an individual is imprisoned against the law, and he has lodged a complaint against his unlawful imprisonment to the law enforcement or police officers, but they have failed to deal with his complaint and are unable to prove that they have taken the required steps and transferred his complaint to the relevant authorities, they shall be sentenced to permanent dismissal from the same office and shall be prohibited from taking government employment for three to five years.

Article 573– If officials and officers responsible for detention centers and prisons receive anyone as a prisoner without the required warrant issued by competent authorities, they shall be sentenced to two months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 574– If officials and officers responsible for detention centers and prisons refuse to hand over a prisoner to competent judicial authorities, or refuse to submit their registers to the said authorities, or refuse or prevent the prisoners’ complaints from reaching the relevant authorities, they shall be subject to the previous article; unless they prove that they had been ordered to do so by their superior commander, in which case he who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the aforementioned punishment.

Article 575– When judicial authorities or other relevant officials unlawfully order the arrest or detention or prosecution of someone, they shall be sentenced to permanent dismissal from judicial offices and shall be prohibited from taking government employment for five years.

Article 576– If any official and civil servant and governmental and municipal agent, no matter at which level or office he serves, abuses his authority and refuses to obey written state orders or statutes or decisions or orders of judicial authorities or any other orders issued by lawful officials, he shall be sentenced to dismissal from civil service for one to five years.

Article 577– If civil servants and agents including Governors of Provinces, Governors of Divisions, Governors of Sections, or their deputies, and police officers, unless in arbitration cases, interfere with cases that fall under the authority of judicial officials, and refuse to stop the interference despite the objection of party/parties to the case or the objection of judicial authorities, they shall be sentenced to two months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 578– Any civil servant or judicial or non-judicial agent who corporally mistreats and abuses an accused person in order to force him to confess, in addition to qisas and diya, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment; and if it is done under someone’s order, only the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the aforementioned imprisonment; and if the accused person dies as a result of the abuses, the principal to the murder shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for a murderer, and the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for the person who has ordered a murder.

Article 579– If a civil servant punishes a convicted person harsher than what was ordered in the verdict or punishes him to what is not ordered in the verdict, he shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment; and if the act is carried out pursuant to someone else’s order, only the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the prescribed punishment; and if the act is punishable by qisas or diya the main principal to the crime shall be sentenced accordingly; and if the act consists of other crimes, the principal to the crime and the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced accordingly to the relevant punishment.

Article 580– Any civil servant and judicial or non-judicial official or anyone who holds a state duty enters someone’s house against the law and without the owner’s permission and consent shall be sentenced to one month to one year’s imprisonment, unless he proves that he has acted on his superior’s order and he has had no choice but to obey his orders, in which case the prescribed punishment shall be given to the person who has issued the order; and if he commits or causes any other crimes he shall also be sentenced to the relevant punishment provided for that crime; and if the offense is committed in the night, the principal to the crime and the person who has issued the order shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Article 581– Any state official and civil servant who, abusing his authority, uses force to buy someone’s property, or unlawfully take possession of someone’s right, or force an owner of a property to sell it to a third person, in addition to restitution of the property or right or its monetary value, shall be sentenced to one year to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of six to eighteen million Rials.

Article 582– If any state official and civil servant, in cases other than those permitted by law, opens or seizes or destroys or inspects or records or intercepts letter or telegraph or telephone communications of people, or discloses their contents without their owners’ permission, shall be sentenced to one year to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of six to eighteen million Rials.

Article 583– If any state official and civil servant or armed forces or the like, without any order from competent authorities [and] in cases other than those in which the law permits arrest or detention of people, arrests or detains an individual and forcibly conceals him in a place, he shall be sentenced to one year to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of six to eighteen million Rials.

Article 584– Anyone who knowingly prepares a place for committing the crime mentioned in previous article, and therefore aids the principal to the crime, shall be sentenced to three months to one year’s imprisonment or a fine of one million and five hundred to six million Rials.

Article 585– If the principal, or the accessory, to the crime [mentioned in the previous article], releases the detainee or takes required measures to release him, provided that he has not detained him for more than five days, he shall be sentenced to two to six months’ imprisonment instead.

Article 586– When the offender, in order to commit the crime mentioned in article 583, uses false names or titles or impersonates state agents or uses their badge or uniform or shows a fake warrant, in addition to the punishment provided in the same article, shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for forgery or deception.

Article 587– If the perpetrator of the crimes mentioned in the previous articles threatens the detainee or prisoner to death or physically abuses and torture him, in addition to qisas or diya, he shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment and will be prohibited from taking  public services.

Chapter Eleven- Bribery, Usury and Fraud

Article 588– If any arbitrator and inspector and expert, whether appointed by the court or parties to a legal case, makes a decision or produces a report in favor of either party in return for a bribe, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to twelve million Rials, and as a punishment for the briber, the amount that was paid shall be confiscated in favor of the government.

Article 589– If judges of courts, due to receiving a bribe, give a harsher punishment than that provided by law,  he shall be sentenced to the same excessive punishment he has given, in addition to the punishment provided for receiving a bribe.

Article 590– If a bribe is not in the form of cash, but is [in the form of] goods or property conveyed, whether directly or indirectly, to judicial or administrative civil servants, free of charge or quite cheaper than the usual price, or prima facie at its usual price but in fact sold for much cheaper, or if  goods or property is bought from civil servants, directly or indirectly, at a quite higher price, the said civil servants shall be considered as bribee and the other party as briber.

Article 591– When it is proved that a briber had to pay a bribe to preserve his legal rights, he shall be exempted from criminal prosecution and the money or property he has paid shall be returned to him.

Article 592– Anyone who, knowingly and deliberately, and whether directly or indirectly, pays money or a property or a bill of payment or delivery of a property, in order to carry out or refrain from carrying out what is a duty of the officials mentioned in article 3 of the law of Aggravating [the punishments of] Bribery, Embezzlement, and Fraud adopted on 6/12/1997 by the Expediency Discernment Council, he shall be considered as a briber, and, in addition to confiscation of the bribed money or property, he shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes.

Note- If the briber has been moztar [i.e. desperate and left with no other option] or reports the bribery or lodges a complaint, he shall be exempted from the imprisonment sentence and the bribed money shall be restituted to him.

Article 593– Anyone who, knowingly and deliberately, facilitates the commission of bribery including through negotiation, persuasion, transferring the money or property or bill of payment, shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for the briber.

Article 594– The punishment for attempted bribery shall be the minimum punishment provided in each case.

Article 595– Any type of agreement between two or more people under any title such as sale, borrow, settlement, etc that conveys a property or goods in return of a property of the same type and amount and with an extra condition, or receives money more than the amount paid, shall be regarded as usury and is a crime. The offenders including usurer, the individual who has paid the usury, and the broker between them, in addition to restitution of the extra money to the owner, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes and also a fine equal to the value of the aforementioned money or property.

Note 1- If the owner of the property [subject to usury] is unknown, it shall be regarded as property without a known owner and shall be given to the vali-ye Faqih (i.e. Supreme Leader).

Note 2- When it is proved that the person who has paid the usury has been moztar [i.e. desperate and left with no other option] to pay the extra money or property, he shall be exempted from the punishment provided in this article.

Note 3- When the abovementioned contract is concluded between a father and his son or a husband and his wife, or if a Muslim receives usury from a Kafir [non-believer], it shall not fall under this article.

Article 596– Anyone who, abusing the weakness and desires or personal needs of incapacitated persons, obtains a writing or document whether commercial or non-commercial including, a bill of exchange, promissory note, check, draft, receipt, settlement receipt against his benefit, or any documents that binds him or clears the receiver, or someone else, from obligations, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to six month to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of one million to ten million Rials; and if the offender is the natural guardian of the [incapacitated] person, or the executor of [his natural guardian’s] will, or appointed as his guardian by court, then, in addition to compensation of the damages, he shall be sentenced to three to seven years’ imprisonment.

Chapter Twelve- Refusing to carry out legal duties

Article 597– Any judicial authority to whom a complaint or petition is referred according to the law, but, despite the fact that he is legally obliged to deal with the complaint, on the basis of any justification even silence or brevity or contradictory nature of the law, fails to accept or deal with the case, or postpones the issuance of the verdict against the law, or acts contrary to the explicit provision of law, on the first occasion shall be sentenced to six months to one year imprisonment and on the [second] occurrence will be permanently dismissed from judicial office; and in any case shall be also sentenced to compensation of damages.

Chapter Thirteen- Offenses of civil servants against government

Article 598– Any civil servant and employee of a governmental department and organization or council or municipality and company or organization or revolutionary body and also foundation and organization that is supervised by vali-ye faqih [i.e. Supreme Leader] and the Supreme Audit Court and organizations that are financed by the government or holders of judicial rank and basically all the members and staff of the three branches of power and also armed forces and public servants, whether official or unofficial, who abuses any fund or credit or drafts or shares or other monetary instruments or other property that belongs to the abovementioned organizations or other persons that are entrusted to them on the basis of their duty, without any intention to transfer their ownership to himself or a third person, shall be regarded as an unlawful possessor and, in addition to compensation of the damages and payment of the payable rent, shall be sentenced to up to 74 lashes; and if he has benefitted [from the offense], in addition to the aforementioned punishment, he shall be sentenced to a fine equal to the amount of benefit. It is also the same case when [anybody], due to his negligence or failure, causes damage to public funds or consumes it for the purposes that no budget is provided by law, or for a different purpose [other than stipulated by law] or in excess of the allocated budget.

Article 599– Anyone who is responsible for the conclusion of contracts or constructing anything or ordering or supervising its construction for any one of the departments and organizations referred to in article 598, and who takes advantage of it for himself or someone else through a deception regarding the amount or features or excessive price or any deception in the construction, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to six months to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 600– Any civil servant or employee or agent who is responsible for the assessment, determination and collection of any fee in favor of the government, violates the law and collects or orders to collect a fee more than that required by law, shall be sentenced to two months to one year’s imprisonment. The punishment provided in this article is also applicable to officials and employees of municipalities; and in any case what is received in contravention of the law shall be returned to the right owner.

Article 601– Any civil servant that on the basis of their duty employs or hires people or transports some materials and charges the government’s account for whole or part of their salaries or fees, but fails to pay the fees, shall be sentenced to temporary suspension from three months to three years; and the same punishment is applicable in the case of civil servants that employed some people as unpaid labors but charged the government’s account and took their salaries for themselves; and in any case the received salary shall be returned to the right owner.

Article 602– Any civil servant that on the basis of their duties has been entitled to employ some people and charges the government’s account more than the number he has actually employed, or if he includes his personal servants among the civil servants and pays their salary from the government’s account, he shall be sentenced to 74 lashes and restitution of the amount he has charged the government’s account.

Article 603– If any civil servant and employee and individual who is in managerial positions in the Ministries and departments and organizations referred to in article 598, whether directly or indirectly, takes any advantage for himself or someone else through any contract or agreement or any other arrangements with other people or their representatives or branches, under any title such as commission, fee, brokerage or bonus, whether inside or outside the country, or if without any mission from his respective organization buys or constructs anything on its behalf, or takes any benefit for himself or someone else when paying the fees that he is responsible for their payment or when settling an account, shall be sentenced to restitution of twice as much as the benefit gained from this act; and if his act causes any change in the amount or quality of the subject of the contract or any increase in its price, he shall be sentenced to six months to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to thirty million Rials.

Article 604– Any civil servant, whether judicial or administrative, who destroys or conceals documents and papers that are entrusted to them or given to them on the basis of their duties, or hands them over to an unauthorized person, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to three months to one year’s imprisonment.

Article 605– Any servant of the departments and organizations referred to in article 598, who, intentionally and unlawfully, makes an statement or action against one of the parties shall be sentenced to up to three months’ imprisonment or a fine up to one million and five hundred thousand Rials and compensation of the damages.

Article 606– Any chairperson or director or authority of the organizations referred to in article 598 who becomes aware of a bribery or embezzlement or illegal possession or fraud or the crimes mentioned in articles 599 and 603, in the organizations under their supervision, and fails to report the offense to competent judicial or administrative bodies, in addition to imprisonment for six months to two years, shall be sentenced to temporary suspension for six months to two years.

Chapter Fourteen- Defying state agents

Article 607– Any form of attack or resistance carried out knowingly against state agents while they are performing their duties shall be regarded as defiance and is punishable according to the following:

1- If the defiant shows his gun in order to threaten, six months to two years’ imprisonment

2- If the defiant touches and holds his gun, one to three years’ imprisonment

3- In all other cases three months to one year of imprisonment.

Note- If the defiant, while defying, commits any other crime, he shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for both crimes.

Chapter Fifteen- Insulting other individuals

Article 609– Anyone who insults any of the Heads of three powers [of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature]  or Vice-Presidents or Ministers or Members of Parliament or Members of the Council of Experts [for Leadership] or Members of the Guardian Council or judges or Members of the Audit Court or civil servants of Ministries and governmental organizations and companies and municipalities while they are performing their duties, or [if the (offender) insults them] in connection with their duties, shall be sentenced to 74 lashes or a fine of fifty thousand to one million Rials.

Chapter Sixteen- Conspiracy and collusion to commit a crime

Article 610– When two or more individuals collude and conspire to commit crimes against the national or foreign security of the country or prepare the facilities to commit the aforementioned crimes, unless they are regarded as mohareb, shall be sentenced to two to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 611– When two or more individuals collude and conspire to commit crimes against people’s honor or lives, and they have prepared the requirements [of the crime] but do not succeed against their will, they shall be sentenced to six months to three years.

Chapter Seventeen- Crimes against people and children

Article 612– Anyone who commits a murder and where there is no complainant, or there is a complainant but he has forgiven and withdrawn his application for qisas, or if qisas is not executed for any reason, if his act disrupts the public order and safety of the society or it is thought that it emboldens the offender or others [to commit murder again], the court shall sentence the offender to three to ten years’ imprisonment.

Note- In this case, an accessory to the crime shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 613– When anyone attempts a murder but does not succeed against his will, he shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ ta’zir imprisonment.

Article 614– Anyone who commits an assault and battery against someone else that results in damaging or breaking or disabling a victim’s limb or causes him a permanent illness or defect or loss of a sense or ability or loss of mind, in cases where qisas is not possible, if his act disrupts public order and the safety of the society or it is thought that it emboldens the offender or others [to commit assault again], he shall be sentenced to two to five years’ imprisonment; and if the victim applies for it, shall be sentenced to diya as well.

Note- If the injury does not result in the abovementioned defects, and the means of committing the assault is a gun or knife or the like, the offender shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment.

Article 615– When a group of people fight with each other, each participant in the fight shall be sentenced according to the following:

1- If the fight results in murder, one to three years’ imprisonment.

2- If it results in loss of a limb, six months to three years’ imprisonment.

3- If it results in assault and battery, three months to one year of imprisonment.

Note 1- If a person’s act is considered to be self-defense, then this article shall not be applicable.

Note 2- The abovementioned punishments do not interfere with qisas or diya provisions.

Article 616– If a manslaughter is committed as a result of negligence or recklessness of the offender or caused by an act for which the offender lacks the required skills, or because of disregard for the regulations, the offender shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment and also payment of diya in cases in which the uliya-ye dam [owners of blood money] apply for, unless it is a case of absolute negligence.

Article 617– Anyone who resorts to a knife or any other weapon to flaunt his strength or to disturb or blackmail or threaten people or in scuffles with someone, if not regarded as mohareb, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 618– Anyone who disrupts the order and public peace or prevents people from their business by crying out and creating a row and outrageous behavior or by assaulting other people shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 619– Anyone who assaults or disturbs children or women in public places or roads, or insults them with outrageous language and behaviors, shall be sentenced to two to six months’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 620– When the crimes referred to in articles 616 and 617 and 618 are committed by a group of people and as a result of a previous collusion, each one of the offenders shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Article 621– Anyone who, whether personally or through someone else, forcefully or by resorting to threat or deception or any other means, abducts or conceals someone in order to blackmail or take revenge or for any reason, shall be sentenced to five to fifteen years’ imprisonment. If the victim is less than fifteen years old or if the abduction is carried out with a vehicle or if the victim is physically or sexually abused, the offender shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided; and if he has committed any other crimes he shall be sentenced to the relevant punishments as well.

Note- Attempted abduction is punishable by three to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 622– Anyone who, knowingly and deliberately, batters or abuses a pregnant woman and causes her to miscarriage, in addition to payment of diya or qisas, shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 623– Anyone who causes the miscarriage of a pregnant woman by giving her drugs or other means shall be sentenced to six months to one year of imprisonment, and if knowingly and deliberately guides a pregnant woman to use drugs or other means to abort her baby shall be sentenced to three to six months’ imprisonment, unless it is proved that it was necessary to save the mother’s life; in any case the diya shall be paid according to the relevant provisions.

Article 624– If a doctor or midwife or pharmacist or those who act as doctor or midwife or surgeon or pharmacist provide the tools for abortion or perform the abortion, they shall be sentenced to two to five years’ imprisonment, and the diya shall be paid according to the relevant provisions.

Article 625– Murder and assault and battery, if committed in self-defense and in order to save the perpetrator’s or someone else’s life or honor or property, then the perpetrator shall not be punished subject to the following conditions and provided that the defense is proportionate to the danger that threatened the perpetrator.

Note- In the case of defending someone else’s property, this article is applicable [only] if the defender is responsible to protect the property or if the owner of the property calls for help.

Article 626– When an act is considered as a crime against life or honor or property, even though committed by state agents, then any form of defense shall be permitted to save the life or honor or property.

Article 627– Defense is [permitted] in the following cases:

A – The fear for life or dignity or honor or property must be based on reasonable grounds.

B – The defense is proportionate to the attack.

C – There is no way to resort to state forces or an easier way to escape.

Article 628– Resisting police forces or other law enforcement officers while they are performing their duties shall not be considered as a defense; however, if they go beyond their authority, and according to the circumstances there is a fear that their acts will cause death or injury or assault to [someone’s] honor or property, then defending against them is permitted as well.

Article 629– In the following cases, murder is not punishable provided that the defense is possible only by murdering [the attacker]:

A – Defending against a murder or severe assault and battery or severe abuse or defending the defender’s and his family members’ honor.

B – Defending against someone who wants to rape someone else.

C – Defending against someone who wants to abduct someone or steal his property.

Article 630– When a man sees her wife committing zina with another man, provided that he is certain that his wife is willing [to have sex], he can kill both of them in the same position; however if he knows that his wife acts under coercion, he may only kill the man [i.e. her rapist]. The same rule applies to assault and battery.

Article 631– Anyone who abducts or conceals a newborn baby or replaces him with another baby or declares him to be another woman’s baby instead of his real mother, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment; and if it is proved that the baby was dead the offender shall be sentenced to a fine of one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand Rials.

Article 632– If anyone fails to hand over a baby that had been given to him when he is asked to do so by persons who have the right to demand the baby, he shall be sentenced to three to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of one million and five hundred thousand to three million Rials.

Article 633– Anyone who, whether personally or at someone else’s order, abandons a baby or an individual who is unable to defend himself in a deserted place shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three million to twelve million Rials; and if he abandons him in a residential area, he shall be sentenced to up to half of the abovementioned punishment; and if the act causes injury or death, the offender, in addition to the abovementioned punishment, shall also be sentenced to qisas or diya.

Article 634– Anyone who, without legal permission, exhumes a grave shall be sentenced to three months and one day to one year of imprisonment and if he commits any other crimes in addition to exhumation, he shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for that crime as well.

Article 635– Anyone who, violating the regulations provided for burial of the dead, buries a corpse or facilitates its burial or conceals it, shall be sentenced to a fine of one hundred to one million Rials.

Article 636– Anyone who, while being aware of the murder, conceals the corpse of a murdered person, or buries it before reporting it to the officials responsible for the investigation of crimes, shall be sentenced to three months and one day to one year of imprisonment.

Chapter Eighteen- Crimes against public prudency and morality

Article 637– When a man and a woman who are not married to each other, commit indecent acts other than zina, such as kissing or sleeping next to one another, they shall be sentenced to up to ninety-nine lashes; and if the act is committed by force only the one who has used force shall be punished as ta’zir.

Article 638– Anyone in public places and roads who openly commits a harām (sinful) act, in addition to the punishment provided for the act, shall be sentenced to two months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes; and if they commit an act that is not punishable but violates public prudency, they shall only be sentenced to ten days to two months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes.

Note- Women, who appear in public places and roads without wearing an Islamic hijab, shall be sentenced to ten days to two months’ imprisonment or a fine of fifty thousand to five hundred Rials.

Article 639– The following individuals shall be sentenced to one year to ten years’ imprisonment and in respect to paragraph (A), in addition to the punishment provided, the relevant place shall be closed temporarily at the discretion of the court.

A – Anyone who establishes or directs a place of immorality or prostitution.

B – Anyone facilitates or encourages people to immorality or prostitution.

Note- If the abovementioned act is regarded as qavadi (procuring), in addition to the punishment provided above, [the offender] shall be sentenced to the hadd punishment for qavadi (procuring).

Article 640– The following individuals shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment and a fine of one million and five hundred Rials to six million Rials and up to 74 lashes or to one or two of the above punishments.

1 – Anyone who, for distribution and business purposes, displays and shows to the public, or produces or keeps any writing or design, gravure, painting, picture, newspapers, advertisements, signs, film, cinema movie, or basically anything, that violates public prudency and morality.

2 – Anyone who, whether personally or through someone else, for the abovementioned purposes, imports or exports the aforementioned objects, or by any means deals or acts as a broker to the [abovementioned] business or any other businesses, or benefits from renting the said objects.

3 – Anyone who, by any means, advertises to encourage dealing and promoting the abovementioned objects, or introduces people who commit the abovementioned illegal acts, or the place the said objects can be obtained.

Note 1- This article is not applicable in the case of objects that are obtained or bought or sold or used in accordance to the Shari’a rules and for scientific or any other permitted reasonable purposes.

Note 2- The object mentioned in this article shall be seized and their contents shall be removed and then shall be submitted to the relevant state organ to be used properly.

Article 641– When anyone disturbs other people through the telephone or other telecommunication devices, in addition to enforcement of special regulations of the Telecommunication Company, shall be sentenced to one to six months’ imprisonment.

Chapter Nineteen- Crimes against family rights and responsibilities

Article 642– Anyone who fails to pay his wife’s nafaqa (maintenance), while he has the financial ability, subject to the wife’s tamkin (obedience), or fails to pay other members of his family that he is legally responsible to pay their nafaqa, shall be sentenced by court to three months and one day to five months’ imprisonment.

Article 643– Anyone who knowingly concludes a marriage contract between a man and a married woman, or a woman who is in her edda period [a period during which a separated or widowed woman is prohibited from remarrying], shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment or a fine from three million to eighteen million Rials and up to 74 lashes. And if he is a director of a Marriage and Divorce Register Office or a Notary Public, he shall be permanently prohibited from directing the said offices.

Article 644– Those who knowingly commit one of the following acts shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to twelve million Rials:

1 – Any woman who is married, or during her edda period, with a man, and marries another man but no sexual relations happen.

2 – Anyone who marries a married woman or a woman who is in her edda period, but no sexual relations happen.

Article 645– In order to protect the institution of family, the registration of the marriage contract, a divorce, and revocation of the divorce is mandatory. Any man who concludes a permanent marriage, or divorces, or revokes a divorce without registering in a Register Office, shall be sentenced to up to one year of ta’zir imprisonment.

Article 646– Marriage before puberty without the permission of the guardian is forbidden. If a man violates Article 1041 of the Civil Code, and its note, and marries a girl before she reaches the age of puberty, he shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ ta’zir imprisonment.

Article 647– If before the marriage, any one of the parties to a marriage deceives the other party with unreal claims such as higher education, financial ability, social status, career or special position, being single, etc, and the marriage contract is concluded on the basis of any such claims, the offender shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ ta’zir imprisonment.

Chapter Twenty- Perjury and revealing secrets

Article 648– Doctors and surgeons and midwives and pharmacists and all persons who, due to their profession or career, are trusted with secrets, if they reveal people’s secrets in cases other than those permitted by law, shall be sentenced to three months and one day to one year of imprisonment or a fine of one million and five hundred thousand to six million Rials.

Article 649– Anyone who takes an oath but perjures in a civil or criminal case lodged against him shall be sentenced six months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 650– Anyone who perjures before the court shall be sentenced to three months and one day to two years’ imprisonment or to a fine of one million and five hundred thousand to twelve million Rials.

Note- The punishment provided in this article is in addition to the punishment for perjury under hudud and qisas and diya provisions.

Chapter Twenty One- Theft and stealing other people’s property

Article 651– When a theft does not meet the requirements for hadd punishment but satisfies all the following five conditions, the offender shall be sentenced to five to twenty years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

1-The theft is committed during the night.

2-The thieves are two or more individuals.

3-One or more of the thieves carry a visible or hidden weapon.

Note (added on 12/11/2008)- The weapon referred to in this paragraph includes the following:

(1)   All sorts of firearms such as guns and grenades.

(2)   All sorts of cold weapons such as machete, sword, knife, and brass knuckles.

(3)   All sorts of military cold weapons including trench knives that are common in the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran or the like and bayonets attachable on the rifle.

(4)   All sorts of hunting guns including popguns, special guns for anesthetizing animals, and special guns for hunting aquatic animals.

4-If the thief/thieves have climbed a wall or broken into a protected place or used a master key or impersonated civil servants or used their uniforms or titles, or if they committed the theft in a residential place or its attachments.

5-If [the thief/thieves] have threatened or harmed someone during the theft.

Article 652– If the theft is committed with harming someone, or if the thief is armed, he shall be sentenced to three months to ten years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes; and if someone is injured, in addition to the punishment for injury, he shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided in this article.

Article 653– Anyone who, by any means, commits banditry in the roads and ways, unless he is regarded as mohareb, shall be sentenced to three to fifteen years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 654-When a theft is committed during the night and the thieves are two or more persons and at least one of them carries a visible or hidden weapon, unless the one who carries the weapon is regarded as mohareb, the offender(s) shall be sentenced to five to fifteen years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 655– An attempted theft in the cases mentioned in the previous articles is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 656– If a theft does not meet the requirements for the hadd punishment and satisfies the following conditions, the offender shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes:

1-The theft is committed in a residential place or its attachments or in public places such as a mosque or public baths etc.

2-The theft is committed in a place that is protected by trees and bushes or hedges or fences and the thief breaks into the protected place.

3-The theft is committed during the night.

4-The thieves are two or more persons.

5-The thief is an employee and has stolen his employer’s property, or stolen someone else’s property in his employer’s house or someone’s house that he had gone there together with the employer or he is an apprentice or worker, or in his usual place of work such as home, shop, workshop, factory, and warehouse.

6-When directors of a hotel and guesthouse and caravansary and basically all persons who due to their job have access to some properties, steal whole or part of that property.

Article 657– Anyone who steals someone’s property through pick-pocketing or purse-snatching and the like shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 658– If the theft is committed in areas stricken by flood or earthquake or war or fire or in a place of a car-crash, provided that it is not punishable by hadd, the offender shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 659– Anyone who steals tools and parts of facilities that are being used by the public and are built or installed at the government’s cost or a joint funding by the government and private sector or by non-governmental or charity organizations, such as water and electricity and gas facilities, shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment; and if the offender is among the employees of the relevant organizations he shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Article 660 (amended on 12/11/2008)- Anyone who, without paying the subscription fee for water and sewage and electricity and gas and telephone, illegally uses water and electricity and telephone and gas and sewage systems, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to a fine equal or twice as much as the damages. If the offender is among the employees of the said organizations he shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Article 661– In other cases where the theft does not meet the requirements mentioned in the above articles, the offender can be punished from three months and one day to two years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 662– Anyone who, knowingly and in spite of reliable circumstantial evidence that implies a property is stolen, obtains or conceals or accepts or deals the property, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes. If the offender deals stolen properties as his career, he shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided in this article.

Article 663– Anyone who, knowingly and without permission, takes possession or uses objects and properties seized by competent authorities, and whose act breaches the seizure, even though he is the owner of the property, shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment.

Article 664– Anyone who, knowingly and deliberately, in order to commit a crime, makes or changes a key or makes or obtains any tools to commit a crime, shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 665– Anyone who steals someone else’s property but his act is not regarded as theft, shall be sentenced to six months to one year of imprisonment; and if his act causes any harm to the victim shall be sentenced to the relevant punishment as well.

Article 666– If an offender repeats the commission of theft, his punishment shall be the maximum punishment provided by law.

Note- If an offender repeats the commission of theft, and if he has three previous final convictions, the court cannot mitigate his punishment under the provisions of mitigating circumstances.

Article 667– In all cases of theft and stealing properties referred to in this chapter, the court, in addition to imposing the punishment provided, shall sentence the offender or thief to restore the stolen property, and if the property is not available to provide its equivalent or pay its value and also to compensate the damages.

Chapter Twenty Two- Threatening and coercing

Article 668– Anyone uses force or coerces or threatens someone else to make him provide a writing or document or signature or stamp, or takes from him a document or writing which, is entrusted, or belongs, to him, shall be sentenced to three months to two years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 669– Anyone who by any means threatens someone else to death or damage to his body or honor or property or to reveal a secret against him or his relatives, whether or not he demands money or any action, shall be sentenced up to 74 lashes or to two months to two years’ imprisonment.

Chapter Twenty Three- Bankruptcy

Article 670– Those who are convicted of fraudulent bankruptcy shall be sentenced to one to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 671– Culpable bankruptcy is punishable by six to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 672– When a liquidator, while dealing with a case of bankruptcy, colludes between the creditors and bankrupt tradesman, whether directly or indirectly and whether through a contract or any other means, he shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of three to eighteen million Rials.

Chapter Twenty Four- Breach of trust

Article 673– Anyone who abuses a blank document which is previously signed or stamped and entrusted to him or that he has obtained by any means, shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 674– When goods or real-estate or documents such as a bill of exchange, check, receipt, etc are entrusted to someone under a rent contract or deposit or mortgage or proxy or any paid or unpaid work, and the said items were supposed to be returned, or used for a specific purpose, and the person entrusted with those items uses or destroys or loses them to the detriment of their owners or possessors, he shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Chapter Twenty Five- Arson and destruction of property and animals

Article 675– Anyone who deliberately sets fire to a building or house or ship or airplane or factory or warehouse and basically any residential place, or jungle or heap or any type of farming products or trees or farms or gardens belong to someone else, shall be sentenced to two to five years’ imprisonment.

Note 1- If the abovementioned acts are committed with the intent to oppose the Islamic State, it is punishable by the punishment provided for mohareb.

Note 2- Attempted crimes mentioned above are punishable by six months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 676– Anyone who sets fire to someone else’s movable belongings shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 677– Anyone who destroys or damages or ruins someone else’s movable belongings or real estate shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 678– When the crimes mentioned in articles 676 and 677 are committed by using explosives, the offender shall be sentenced to two to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 679– Anyone who deliberately and unnecessarily kills or poisons or wastes or impairs someone else’s halal-meat animal [animals whose meat is permitted to be consumed under Islamic Shari’a], or other [protected] animals that are illegal to hunt, shall be sentenced to ninety one days to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of one million and five hundred thousand to three million Rials.

Article 680– Anyone who without permission and against the law hunts or traps protected wild animals and species shall be sentenced to three months to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of one and a half million to eighteen million Rials.

Article 681– Anyone who, knowingly, burns or destroys any governmental books and deeds and documents shall be sentenced to two to ten years’ imprisonment.

Article 682– Anyone who, knowingly, burns or destroys any non-governmental or commercial documents or bills which causes damage to a third party, shall be sentenced to three months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 683– Any kind of looting or destruction of goods and properties or crops that is committed by using force by a group of more than three individuals, if the offenders are not considered as mohareb, shall be punishable by two to five years’ imprisonment.

Article 684– Anyone who pastures [his animals] in someone else’s crops, or destroys someone’s vineyard or orchard or palm garden, or cuts or harvests someone else’s crops, or steals or stops the allocated water and causes its waste, or breaks down someone else’s mill, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes.

Article 685– Anyone who, without permission and by any means, destroys or cuts a palm tree shall be sentenced to three to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of one million and five hundred thousand to three million Rials, or both the punishments.

Article 686– Anyone who, knowingly and deliberately and against the Development of Green Spaces Act, cuts or destroys any type of trees mentioned in article one of the said Act, in addition to compensation of the damages, shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of three million to eighteen million Rials.

Article 687– Anyone who destroys or sets fire to or breaks down or damages tools and facilities used by the public such as water and sewage, electricity, oil, gas, post, telegraph, and telephone networks, and frequency and microwave (telecommunication), and radio and TV centers, and also their related facilities such as dams, channels, pipes, power stations and power and communication lines (air or underground or fiber-optic cables) and the generators and distribution machines which are built by public funding or joint governmental and private funding or by private sector for public use, and also traffic signs and other signs installed to save people’s lives or to ensure safety of the abovementioned facilities or roads, provided that he does not have any intent to disrupt public order and security, shall be sentenced to three months to ten years’ imprisonment.

Note 1- If the abovementioned acts are committed with the intent to disrupt public order and security and to oppose the Islamic State, the offender shall be sentenced to the punishment provided for mohareb.

Note 2- Attempting to commit the abovementioned crimes shall be punishable by one to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 688– Any act that is regarded as a threat to public health, such as polluting drinking waters or distributing polluted drinking waters, insanitary removal of human and animal wastes, throwing poisonous materials into rivers, [throwing] garbage in the streets, the illegal slaughter of animals, the illegal use of raw sewage or drained water of sewage refineries for agricultural purposes, is forbidden and the offenders, unless punishable by more severe punishments under special laws, shall be sentenced to up to one year of imprisonment.

Note 1- It is the responsibility of the ‘Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education’, ‘Department of Environment Protection’, and the ‘Department of Veterinary Medicine’, whichever is concerned, to determine whether or not an act is a threat to public health, or is environmental pollution or the illegal slaughter of animals and removal of animal waste, and further to file a suit.

Note 2- Environmental pollution is defined as distributing or mixing external materials into water or air or soil or land to the extent that changes its physical, chemical, or biological quality and damages the lives of people or other animals and plants.

Article 689– In all the cases mentioned in this chapter, when arson or destruction and other acts result in death or loss of limb or wound or injury to a person, the offender, in addition to the punishments provided, shall be sentenced accordingly to qisas or diya, and in all the cases, to provide compensation for the damages.

Chapter Twenty Six- Violating and trespassing other people’s houses and estates

Article 690– Anyone who, in order to possess or claim to be the right holder, creates scenes and resorts to deceptive measures such as digging the foundations, building walls, changing or removing the borders between land, terracing, digging a canal, drilling a well, planting trees, etc to create evidence for his possession in farming lands (whether already planted or in rotation cultivation), jungles and nationalized meadows, mountains, gardens, tree nurseries, water supplies, springs, natural streams, national parks, agricultural and stockbreeding facilities and farms, wastelands and uncultivated lands and other lands and estates which belong to the government or the companies which belong to the government or municipalities or [Department of] Endowments, and also lands and estates which are endowed for public or private use, or if, without permission of the Department of Environmental Protection or other relevant bodies, resorts to an operation that destroys the environment and natural resources, or  commits any violation or unlawful possession or disruption of rights in the abovementioned cases, shall be sentenced to one month to one year of imprisonment. The court is obliged to order the elimination of the unlawful possession or disruption, or restoration of the previous status.

Note 1- The abovementioned crimes shall be heard out of set order and the judicial authority shall prepare minutes and order the suspension of the offender’s operation until the final decision is made.

Note 2- When the accused persons are three or more individuals and there is strong circumstantial evidence that proves their commission of the crime, an arrest order shall be issued; the claimant can apply for dispossession [of the offender(s)] and demolition of the building and trees and removal of the traces of the violation.

Article 691– Anyone who forcibly enters an estate which is possessed by someone else, whether or not it is walled or fenced, or even if it was not forcible at the beginning but despite the possessor’s warning [the offender] has stayed by using force, in addition to elimination of his violation, shall be sentenced to one to six months’ imprisonment. When the offenders are two or more individuals and at least one of them carries a weapon, they shall be sentenced to one to three years’ imprisonment.

Article 692– Anyone who forcibly possesses someone else’s estate, in addition to removal of the violation, shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment.

Article 693– If anyone, according to a final judgment, is convicted to eviction or removal of disturbance from a real estate, but after the judgment is enforced, repossesses, or makes disturbance for, the same property again, in addition to removal of the violation, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment.

Article 694– Anyone who forcibly or by resorting to threat enters someone else’s house shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment and if the offenders are two or more individuals and at least one of them carries a weapon they shall be sentenced to one to six years’ imprisonment.

Article 695– If the crimes mentioned in articles 692 and 693 are committed during the night the offender shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Article 696– In all cases where the offender, in addition to the criminal punishment, is convicted to restoration of the same property or its value or paying the diya and damages caused by the crime, but fails to execute the judgment, at the request of the applicant, the court shall enforce the judgment against the convict through selling his belongings except for exempted items set by law, or to detain the convicted person until he pays the debts.

Note- If the convicted person claims destitution, he shall remain in detention until the confirming decision on his destitution or payment by installments is made.

Chapter Twenty Seven- Libel and Insult and Dishonoring

Article 697– Anyone who, through printed or written papers or by publishing in a newspaper or by giving a speech in events or by any other means, attributes something to a person which is a crime under law and fails to prove that those documents are true, in cases other than those punishable by hadd, shall be sentenced to one month to one year of imprisonment and up to 74 lashes or one of them.

Article 698– Anyone who, with the intent to cause damage to someone or to disrupt the opinion of the authorities or the public by [sending] a letter or complaint or correspondence or petitions or reports or distribution of printed or written papers, whether signed or without a signature, lies or falsely attributes some acts to an individual or a legal person or officials, whether explicitly or implicitly or whether directly or indirectly, and whether or not it causes material or spiritual damages, in addition to restitution of the prestige [of the victim] if possible, shall be sentenced to two months to two years’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes.

Article 699– Anyone who, knowingly and deliberately, with the intent to accuse an individual, without his knowledge, manipulates or conceals the tools and means of a crime or any object for which its possession can be prosecuted, in his home or workplace or pocket or belongings, or claims that such items belong to him, and as a result of this the said individual is prosecuted, after the prosecution is terminated or he is declared innocent, the offender shall be sentenced to six months to three years or up to 74 lashes.

Article 700– Anyone who satirizes an individual, whether in poetry or prose and whether verbal or written, or publishes a satire, shall be sentenced to one to six months’ imprisonment.

Chapter Twenty Eight- Public consumption of alcoholic beverages and gambling and tramping

Article 701– Anyone who, publically and without acting secretly, consumes alcoholic beverages in public places and roads and events, in addition to the hadd punishment for consumption of alcoholic beverages, shall be sentenced to two to six months’ ta’zir imprisonment.

Article 702– Anyone who produces or buys or sells or proposes to sell or carries or keeps alcoholic beverages or provides to a third person, shall be sentenced to six months to one year of imprisonment and up to 74 lashes and a fine five times as much as the usual (commercial) value of the aforementioned object.

Article 703– Importing alcoholic beverages into the country shall be considered as smuggling and the importer, regardless of the amount [of the beverages], shall be sentenced to six months to five years’ imprisonment and up to 74 lashes and a fine ten times as much as the usual (commercial) value of the aforementioned object. This crime can be tried in the General Courts.

Note 1- In respect to articles 702 and 703, when the discovered alcoholic beverages are more than twenty liters, the vehicle used for its transport, if its owner is aware of the matter, shall be confiscated in favor of the government; otherwise the offender shall be sentenced [to a fine] equal to the value of the vehicle. Tools and equipments used for producing or facilitating the crimes mentioned in the said articles, as well as the money gained through the transactions, shall be confiscated in favor of the government.

Note 2- When civil servants or employees of governmental companies or companies or institutes dependant to government, councils, municipalities or Islamic revolutionary bodies, and basically all the three powers and also members of armed forces and public service officials, commit, or participate, or aid and abet in the crimes mentioned in articles 702 and 703, in addition to the punishments provided, they shall be sentenced to one to five years’ temporary suspension from civil service.

Note 3- The court, under no circumstances, shall suspend the execution of the punishment provided in articles 702 and 703.

Article 704– Anyone who has set up a place for the consumption of alcoholic beverages or invites people to that place shall be sentenced to three months to two years’ imprisonment and 74 lashes or a fine of one million and five hundred thousand to twelve million Rials or both the punishments; and if they commit both of the abovementioned crimes they shall be sentenced to the maximum punishment provided.

Article 705– Gambling by any means is forbidden and the offenders shall be sentenced to one to six months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes; and if they commit gambling publically, they shall be sentenced to both the punishments.

Article 706– Anyone who buys or carries or keeps gambling tools shall be sentenced to one to three months’ imprisonment or a fine of five hundred thousand to one million and five hundred thousand Rials.

Article 707– Anyone who makes or sells or offers to sell or imports or provides to someone else shall be sentenced to three months to one year of imprisonment and one million and a fine of five hundred thousand to six million Rials.

Article 708– Anyone who sets up a gambling house or invites people to that place shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three million to twelve million Rials.

Article 709– All the tools and cash that belong to gambling shall be, respectively, destroyed or confiscated as a fine.

Article 710– Individuals who accept to serve in the gambling houses or places prepared for the consumption of alcoholic beverages mentioned in articles 701 and 705, or by any means assists the directors of such places, shall be considered as an accessory to the crime and their punishment is [equal to] the punishment provided for the principal to the crime; however, the court, considering the circumstances and the extent of his acts, may mitigate his punishment.

Article 711– When a law enforcement officers and other competent officials are aware of the places mentioned in articles 704 and 705 and 708 or persons mentioned in article 710 but fail to report the issue to relevant authorities or they produce false reports, if they are not subject to a harsher punishment under another law, they shall be sentenced to three to six months of imprisonment or up to 74 lashes.

Article 712– Anyone who has chosen beggary or swindling as his occupation and earns his living out of it shall be sentenced to one to three months’ imprisonment; and if he commits the abovementioned acts while he has no financial need, in addition to the punishments provided, all the properties gained though beggary and swindling shall be confiscated.

Article 713– Anyone who uses a child or an incompetent person for a beggaring purpose or appoints some people for this purpose, shall be sentenced to two years and restitution of all properties gained through this way.

Chapter Twenty Nine- Traffic Crimes

Article 714– When negligence or recklessness or violation of state regulations or the lack of driving skills of a driver of land or marine or air vehicles or operator of a motorized vehicle causes a manslaughter, the offender shall be sentenced to six months to three years’ imprisonment, and also payment of diya, if requested by blood owners.

Article 715– When any one of the grounds mentioned in article 714 causes untreatable physical or mental illness or loss of a sense or disability of a limb that is crucial in human life, or the permanent disfiguration of a limb or face, or miscarriage, the offender shall be sentenced to two months to one year of imprisonment, and the payment of diya, if requested by blood owners.

Article 716– When any one of the grounds mentioned in article 714 causes a bodily injury that permanently impairs a sense or makes a limb defective, or if it destroys a part of the affected limb without causing disability of that limb, or causes a premature delivery by a pregnant woman, the offender shall be sentenced to two months to six months’ imprisonment, and payment of diya, if requested by the victim.

Article 717– When any one of the grounds mentioned in article 714 causes bodily injury, the offender shall be sentenced to one to five months’ imprisonment, and payment of diya, if requested by the victim.

Article 718– In the abovementioned articles, when a driver or operator of a motorized vehicle, at the time of commission of the crime, was drunk or lacked the [required driving] license or exceeded the speed limit, or used the motorized vehicle despite mechanical defects and malfunction which is effective in causing the accident, or ignores the special lines allocated for pedestrians, or drives through forbidden pathways, shall be sentenced to more than two-thirds of the maximum punishment provided in the above article. The court, in addition to the abovementioned punishment, may ban the offender from driving or operating motorized vehicles for one to five years.

Note- In execution of the punishments provided in articles 714 and 718 of this Code, paragraph 1 of article 3 of the Law of Clearance of some of the Government’s Incomes and its Spending in Specific Cases adopted by the IRI Parliament on 19/03/1995 is not applicable.

Article 719– When an injured person [in a car crash] needs urgent help and the driver, while being capable of taking the injured person to a medical center or calling for help from police forces, or in order to escape from prosecution leaves the scene and abandons the injured person, he shall be sentenced to more than two-thirds of the punishment provided in articles 714 and 715 and 716. The court is not allowed to mitigate the punishment under this article.

Note 1- The driver is allowed to move the vehicle from the accident scene to perform the duties mentioned in this article, [only] if there is no other way to help the injured person.

Note 2- In all the above mentioned cases, when the driver takes the injured person to a place for treatment and rest, or informs the relevant officials about the incident, or if by any means facilitates the injured person’s treatment and rest and relief, the court shall consider mitigating his punishment.

Article 720– Anyone who manipulates the numbers and specifications of plates of land or marine or farming motorized vehicles, or attaches another motorized vehicle’s plate to it, or attaches a false plate, or uses such vehicles while being aware of the false or manipulated plate, and also anybody who, without permission from the traffic police, changes the chassis or motor or plate numbers of motorized vehicles or motor or chassis plates which are carved or installed by the manufacturer company, or changes its original form, shall be sentenced to six months to one year of imprisonment.

Article 721– Anyone who wants to junk a motorized vehicle must first report the issue and the place the car is parked to the local traffic police office. The traffic police must issue the permission within one week and if for some reason they disagree with junking [the vehicle], inform the applicant about its decision within the same period. If the traffic police do not declare their decision in the said period, junking the vehicle is permitted after the deadline is expired. Violation of this article shall be punishable by two months to one year of imprisonment.

Article 722– If a motorized vehicle or its plate is stolen or lost, the possessor of the vehicle, whether or not he is the owner of the vehicle, as soon as he becomes aware, shall report the issue to the nearest police station. Violation of this article shall be punishable by five hundred thousand to one million Rials.

Article 723– Anyone who, without an official driving license, drives or operates a motorized vehicle that requires a special license, and also anyone who is banned by a court decision from driving a motorized vehicle, drives the aforementioned vehicles, in the first instance shall be sentenced to up to two months’ ta’zir imprisonment or a fine of up to one million Rials or both the punishments, and in the case of recurrence shall be sentenced to two to six months’ imprisonment.

Article 724– Any driver of a vehicle that deliberately manipulates the speed-recorder equipment of the vehicle so that the equipment shows a lower speed than the actual speed, or drives the vehicle while being aware that the said equipment is manipulated, in the first instance shall be sentenced to ten days to two months’ imprisonment or a fine of fifty thousand to five hundred thousand Rials or both the punishments, and in the case of recurrence shall be sentenced to six months to two to six months’ imprisonment.

Article 725– If any government official who is responsible for the assessment of driving skills and issuance of driving licenses, issues a driving license for an incompetent applicant, they shall be sentenced to six months to one year of ta’zir imprisonment and five years’ prohibition from civil service and the aforementioned license shall be revoked.

Article 726– An accessory to a ta’zir crime shall be punished with the minimum punishment provided for the same crime.

Article 727– The crimes mentioned in articles 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, later part of article 596, 608, 622, 633, 642, 648, 668, 669, 676, 677, 679, 682, 684, 685, 690, 692, 694, 697, 699, and 700 shall not be prosecuted unless by complaint of a private complainant and if the private complainant forgives [waives his complaint] the court may mitigate the punishment of the offender, or according to the Shari’a provisions abandon the prosecution.

Article 728– Considering the characteristics of a crime and the offender and the number of instances in which the crime was committed, when delivering the judgment and if required, the court may apply the rules regarding mitigation or the suspension of punishment and supplementary and substitute punishments such as the temporary deprivation of public services.

Source: Iran Human Rights