Increase in Prison Population

Over 230,000 people from a population of close to 80 million are currently serving prison terms in the country, a steep rise compared with the previous decades. In 1979, there were only 8,000 prisoners (among the 35-million population), according to Asghar Jahangir, head of Iran Prisons Organization, IRNA reported. Incarceration rate now stands at 287 per 100,000, making Iran the fourth in Asia and eighth in the world with the highest number of prisoners. The growth is linked to the increase in different types of criminal activities.