According to the Human Rights Committee “freedom to “have or to adopt” a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief”.48 The constant threat of being persecuted may well amount to attempts from the Iranian State to prevent individuals from choosing a religion of their choice or converting to a religion or belief. In the context of a State that considers itself Shia by law, such measures imposing restrictions on the basis of religion or belief may well amount in practice to coercion to renounce or to convert to a minority faith and as such are incompatible with the prohibition of discrimination based on religion or belief under Article 18 of the Covenant. The Human Rights Committee stipulated that the “recognition of a religion as a State religion should not result in any impairment of the enjoyment of any of the rights under Article 18, nor in any discrimination against adherents of other religions or non-believers, since the right to freedom of religion and belief and the prohibition of discrimination do not depend on the recognition as an official religion or belief”. 49 Iranian penal sanctions, policies and practices instituted against religious minorities may well amount to attempts to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to their religious belief and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert. The Human Rights Committee has stated that such conducts are inconsistent with Article 18 of the ICCPR.50 Additionally, the imposition of special restrictions on the practice of other faiths, or that discriminate on the basis of religion or belief in Iran violate Article 26 of the ICCPR. Recommendation Status: This recommendation has NOT been implemented. 48 UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), CCPR General Comment No. 22: Article 18 (Freedom of Thought, Conscience or Religion), 30 July 1993, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fb22.html 49 Human Rights Committee Concluding Observations, 3 August 1993, CCPR/C/79/Add.25 https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2fC%2f79%2fAdd.25&Lang=en 50 CCPR General Comment No. 22: Article 18 < https://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fb22.html> 7