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 conduct is inconsistent with Article 18 of the ICCPR.50 Additionally, the imposition of special restrictions on the practice of other faiths, or discrimination on the basis of religion or belief in Iran, violate Article 26 of the ICCPR. Recommendation Status: This recommendation has NOT been implemented. 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