Senior Iran official suspended over video of 'him having sex with man'
Islamic Iran is engulfed by sex tape scandal: Senior regime official is suspended after video is leaked ‘showing him having sex with a man’
- Iran official in charge or promoting Islamic values suspended after sex tape leak
- Video shows a man alleged to Reza Tsaghati him having sex with another man
Iran has been engulfed in a sex tape scandal after a senior government official responsible for promoting Islamic values was suspended after a video was leaked of a man alleged to be him having sex with another man.
The video which has been shared online reportedly is of a man said to be Reza Tsaghati, the head of culture and Islamic guidance in the northern Gilan province.
However the identities of the two men in the video and its authenticity have not been verified, the BBC reports.
Iran is an Islamic nation where homosexulity is illegal, carrying a potential death sentence, and LGBT+ people face constant threats of abuse, harassment and violence.
Mr Tsaghati has reportedly been suspended from his position pending an investigation by the authorities – and the government have denied any prior knowledge of his alleged behaviour.
Iran has been engulfed in a sex tape scandal after Reza Tsaghati (pictured), a senior government official responsible for promoting Islamic values, was suspended after a video was leaked of a man alleged to be him having sex with another man
Iran is an Islamic nation where homosexulity is illegal, carrying a potential death sentence (file photo of an Iranian policeman in Tehran)
The video has been shared across social media in Iran and has caused fury.
The Iranian official is the founder of a cultural centre which focuses on piety and the hijab, an Islamic headscarf.
Iranian culture minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili today said they had not previously received any reports which cast Mr Tsaghati in a negative light before the publication of the sex tape online.
Critics of Iran’s regime have noted how the treatment of senior officials accused of crimes differs to LGBT+ people or women charged with not following Islamic values.
Iranian law, which is based on Islamic Sharia law, same-sex relationships are crimes and carry a maximum sentence of death – although this is not frequently used, gay people do face overwhelming discrimination.
The government did not publicly acknowledge the sex tape at first when it appeared online.
Critics of Iran’s regime have noted how the treatment of senior officials accused of crimes differs to LGBT+ people or women charged with not following Islamic values (pictured: protests in Tehran in September last year after a 22-year-old woman died in custody)
But on July 22, the cultural and Islamic guidance department of Gilan issued a statement referring to the ‘suspected misstep of the director of Islamic guidance in Gilan’.
It said the case was ‘referred for careful consideration to the judicial authorities’ but warned the public against using the video to ‘weaken the honourable cultural front of the Islamic Revolution’.
The video was first published by an anti-establishment media group, Radio Gilan, on their Telegram channel.
Chief editor Peyman Behboudi said the channel will keep exposing ‘corruption among regime officials’.
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