A court has sentenced a former Iranian cultural official to 100 lashes and two years of exile after convicting him of sexual relations with another man.
Reza Saghati, former director-general of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Gilan province, was found guilty of what the court described as “non-penetrative sodomy.”
The other man in the case received a sentence of 100 lashes and one year of exile.
According to a report by Ensaf News, the case extends beyond Saghati. The court said the son of a former Gilan provincial official organized a group to eliminate political rivals by producing compromising videos of regional managers to facilitate their dismissal.
That individual was sentenced to 10 years in prison and two years of exile.
Court documents show other defendants confessed that women were instructed to approach high-ranking officials and secretly record private encounters to create political leverage. One defendant said participants believed these actions were “organizational orders to combat corrupt managers.”
Saghati was appointed Gilan’s culture director in November 2021. In the summer of 2023, a video allegedly showing sexual relations between two men was circulated on Telegram channels, with claims that one of the men was Saghati.
The Gil Khabar news site reported Saghati’s dismissal in July 2023, citing “controversies created” but without providing further details.
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