A group of Iranian actors accused of making pornographic films could face the death penalty, under a 2007 law allowing capital punishment for people convicted of making obscene films.
Iran is no stranger to oppression and it is among the world's worst offenders in capital punishment - including an active death penalty for victimless crimes. Drug trafficking is also a capital offense in Iran - and defined as possession of more than 30 grams of heroin or five kilos of opium. Many executions, especially for sex offenses, are carried out by public hanging.
wow goldIran passed the new porn death penalty law to combat a recent explosion of the country's underground porn industry. But executions for porn aren't new. In 2001, a woman convicted of "corruption on earth" was stoned to death in a Tehran prison for acting in a porn film.
Dr Naser Fakouhi, one of Iran's leading sociologists and the head of anthropology at Tehran University, has warned that the country's huge number of young people – roughly 70% of the population are aged under 35 – has caused an explosion in internet pornography and the rapid growth of an underground industry.
wow goldThe trend has been compounded by a rise in the average marrying age in a society in which premarital sex is outlawed and socially frowned upon.
A recent survey by the state-run national youth organisation revealed that the average marrying age had risen to 40 for men and 35 for women, well above the government's recommended guideline of 29.
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