Transcript of an interview about homosexuality with the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Tehran Saeed Mortazavi, on the television program Kooleh Poshty from channel 3 of the Islamic Republic of Iran's TV network (IRIB):

July 24, 2007

translated by Ava

 Our principles in regards to actions taken by individuals lie within the law. The legality of a crime and its appropriate punishment governs the behaviours and deeds of the individual. People are prohibited from committing certain acts which are considered criminal by law and designative of specific penalty. If an act is not considered a crime and does not have a penalty attached to it, we have no right to arrest or penalize people for it. If we do, we have acted illegally and contrary to laws of the state.

Regarding hair style and dress sense of some gentlemen - boys and men are free to have their hair long, short, or to shave their hair completely bald; we have no objection. The ultimate reason for this discourse is this: in some Western countries, there are certain corrupt social groups, such as metal bands or homosexuals, who promote and encourage their particular groupings [via their style and dress]. In these countries, corrupt elements such as homosexuals and similar persons of weakness are not considered criminal, and the formation of bands and groupings of this sort are not prohibited. They [their Iranian counterparts] go ahead and promote these social groups using their particular identity markers. For example certain shirts had entered the country and become fashionable; on the back of these shirts there was a very clear print with bold letters that said "I am object" [in English], which means ‘I am [the sexually] passive [partner]’. Our dear and honourable commander Mr. Radan [Chief of Police] describes how in Tochal there had been reports that a certain young man had worn such a shirt and gone hiking. He was advised by certain righteous elements as to the meaning of the phrase [in Farsi] written on the back of his shirt. When this young man learned of the meaning of his shirt, he took it off and said "If I had known my shirt said such a thing I would have torn it to pieces".

Some homosexuals style their hair in a deviant and peculiar way so as to differentiate themselves from most people in society and in fact this hair style has become the identifier for this corrupt homosexual group. These deviant styles and social markings as they exist in the West are intercepted [here]. The authorities invite an individual and say to him "on the basis of this picture and this image and this foreign magazine, your haircut is akin to the hairstyle of homosexual people." The individual feels ashamed and embarrassed and corrects himself voluntarily. Then the authorities seek out the hair salon which gave the man this haircut and if they see that this individual actively and knowingly promotes the markings of the group he will be penalized. But if this person admits to their own ignorance and it becomes clear there was no defined purpose for his actions, only a matter of irresponsibility, we do not penalize, but instead warn them not to repeat it again.

Therefore, if men's hairstyle or mode of dress is connected to deviant external sources - meaning they function as identifiers or markers for these deviant groups - these men discontinue with such styles after being warned and informed. The authorities are informed of this change in behaviour. But if they are persons who know and yet choose out of their own volition to relentlessly promote such deviant behaviour, they are held accountable by the regulations we have within the law that address deviant and corrupt groups. The legislature has given us permission to penalize and so we will penalize these individuals