Freedom, Democracy, Corruption: Iran's Poor Record

Iran ranks very poorly in international indices on democracy, corruption, and press and internet freedom, occupying some the lowest positions. This illustrates the extent to which human and fundamental rights are restricted in the country. As our infographic shows, Iran ranks 176th out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index 2025, almost at the bottom of the ranking, indicating extremely limited press freedom. This index compares how freely journalists, media companies, and online actors can work in 180 countries and assesses, among other things, political pressure on the media, legal restrictions, and the safety of media professionals.

In The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2024, Iran ranks 154th out of 167 countries, making it an authoritarian regime. The Democracy Index uses 60 indicators to measure the quality of elections, government functioning, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties, and summarizes them in an overall score for the state of democracy. In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2025, Iran ranks 153rd out of 182 countries, making it a country with one of the highest perception of corruption in the public sector. The CPI measures the perceived level of corruption among politicians and civil servants by combining expert assessments and corporate surveys on bribery, abuse of power, and misappropriation of public funds.

In the Global Peace Index 2025, Iran ranks 142nd out of 163 countries, making it one of the least peaceful countries in the world. The index uses 23 indicators to assess the extent of violence and conflict, including social security, ongoing conflicts, and militarization. In the Fragile States Index 2024, Iran ranks 43rd out of 179 and is thus considered to be significantly structurally fragile. This index measures a country's vulnerability to crises based on political stability, social cohesion, economic pressure, and state capacity. In the Freedom on the Net 2025 study, Iran ranks 70th out of 72 countries and is one of the states with the least internet freedom. Freedom on the Net assesses access to the internet, restrictions on online content, and violations of user rights such as surveillance or arbitrary arrests.