The debate over the link between poverty and violent muggings in Iran has intensified following reports of several citizens being killed by robbers. Some legal experts are calling for harsher penalties in the law, while some observers blame the Iranian regime for the worsening economic crisis.
In a report on Thursday, February 27, Didbaniran website, citing “available statistics,” emphasized that “in recent years, due to worsening economic problems and poverty, muggings and thefts have increased.”
The report identifies poverty, economic inequality, unemployment, and mental health issues stemming from these crises as “the main reasons for crimes such as violent muggings.” It also references incidents of mugging in public places and highways, including an “armed robbery on Sadr Expressway” and the killing of Amir Mohammad Khaleqi, a young university student in Tehran.
According to the Islamic Penal Code, which Iran’s judiciary uses as the basis for sentencing crimes, “if theft involves violence or threats, the perpetrator will be sentenced to three to fifteen years in prison and 74 lashes.”
The Didbaniran report quotes Abdullah Samami, a defense lawyer, stating that if mugging “involves the use of a firearm or cold weapon and causes public fear,” it is considered “an instance of moharebeh” (waging war against God).
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Under the Iranian regime’s law, the charge of moharebeh can carry the death penalty.
In recent days, the state-run Mizan news agency, affiliated with the Iranian regime’s judiciary, reported the execution of a prisoner on charges of “moharebeh” (waging war against God) for using a cold weapon in a robbery. However, Iranian legal expert Mohsen Borhani wrote on X that, under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, “defendants accused of theft and murder” in such cases do not fall under the category of moharebeh. He argued that these individuals were charged with this crime only after footage of the incident was “widely circulated online,” leading to “public psychological insecurity.”
Social media users have also expressed different opinions on the link between poverty and theft.
A significant number of users view the increasing use of violence by thieves as “the convergence of multiple crises” in Iran, arguing that “the Iranian regime is responsible for poverty and insecurity.”
Another citizen highlighted that inefficiencies in authoritarian governments—due to factors such as “lack of accountability and transparency, extreme centralization of power, corruption benefiting insiders, and suppression of criticism”—ultimately affect the entire system. Writing on X, they pointed out that issues like “power outages, gas shortages, inflation, currency fluctuations,” and even the murder of Amir Mohammad Khaleqi, a 19-year-old University of Tehran student killed by muggers, all “point the finger of blame at the entire Iranian regime.”
Violent crimes such as mugging and armed robbery have been on the rise in Iran in recent years. Some analysts attribute this trend to poverty and insecurity caused by the actions of government officials.
Experts have repeatedly stressed in recent years that “class inequality, lack of action against high-level corruption, weak laws, and the demotivation of law enforcement” are among the main reasons behind the rise in violent thefts.
