It seems that, at least as recently as 2014, Iran had a death penalty for apostasy. But apostasy isn't non-belief. In fact, that charge seems to be a rather contextual matter. In this Guardian story we find an example of a man was executed for "heresy" generally, but more specifically for "insulting prophet Jonah and making ‘innovations in religion’ through interpretations of Qur’an" - that is, he is religious, but he holds an unacceptable position within the sphere of (Shia) Islam.
My questions are:
- What exactly is illegal in Iran w.r.t. religious non-belief, if anything? Specifically, if you're an Atheist, and you say out loud that you don't believe in the existence of gods or supernatural phenomena etc. - have you violated Iranian law?
- Do people get prosecuted for holding atheist views? For expressing atheist views? For promoting atheism?
Part of my motivation for asking is an opinion poll from 2020, suggesting that over 20% of Iranians claim having no religion, and nearly 9% define themselves as outright atheists.