Iran

Prohibited, no market

Betting and games of chance are criminal offences under Articles 705 to 711 of the Islamic Penal Code. Amendments made in 2022 to 2023 extended these articles to online play: running a real or virtual space for games of chance, creating betting websites, promoting them and renting out bank cards or payment gateways for them are all offences. There are no casinos, no lottery and no licensing authority.

Online casino
ProhibitedProhibited in every form: no licensing, no regulator, no lottery.
Regulator
NoneNo authority licenses iGaming
Legal basis
Islamic Penal Code, Book of Ta'zirat, Articles 705 to 711 (amended 2022 to 2023)Desk research, Oct 2026
Research coverage
82% 9 of 11 applicable fields. How it is scored

Legal status by product

Baseline research contract v1.1
ProductFindingStateSource
Online casino Prohibited Reported Research, Oct 2026 (2 sources)
Sports betting Prohibited Reported Research, Oct 2026 (2 sources)
Online poker Prohibited Reported Research, Oct 2026 (2 sources)
Lottery Prohibited Reported Research, Oct 2026 (2 sources)
Land-based casino Prohibited Reported Research, Oct 2026 (2 sources)

Enforcement and controls

How the prohibition is applied
ControlFindingStateSource
Player liability Not yet established. Research queued. Unknown None
Site blocking Not yet established. Research queued. Unknown None
Payment blocking Renting out bank cards or payment gateways for betting is a criminal offence under the amended Article 709. Reported Desk research, Oct 2026
Advertising Promoting games of chance is a criminal offence under the amended Article 709. Reported Desk research, Oct 2026

Offshore exposure

Knowledge base, as of 2026-10-15

With no licensed market to measure, the measurable activity is offshore: which brands say they accept players from Iran, and which offers are marked as available there.

Brand access declarations for Iran, of 1,721 brands tracked
  • Accept players from Iran24614.3%
  • Exclude Iran in their terms83348.4%
  • No declaration64237.3%
List Iran as a focus market3brands
Offers marked available0welcome offers
Population88.4MIranian Rial
Brands that accept players from Iran Licence status, access terms and offer history per brand

The brand list, licences and how access terms changed over time are in the enterprise dataset.

What would change this page
  • A draft law or public consultation on licensing any form of betting or games of chance
  • A new authority with powers over betting, lotteries or games of chance
  • Published blocking orders or payment restrictions aimed at offshore sites
  • A change in brand access declarations of more than 5% in a month
Latest on Iran

No news about Iran yet.

All news

Other markets with no licensed industry

All restricted markets
MarketRegionAccept playersExcludeFocus marketOffers
Iran Asia 246 14.3% 833 3 0
Afghanistan Asia 268 15.6% 801 3 0
Bahrain Asia 554 32.2% 400 31 8
Brunei Asia 555 32.2% 384 4 0
Indonesia Asia 531 30.9% 425 22 20
Kuwait Asia 548 31.8% 403 40 10
Mongolia Asia 520 30.2% 426 2 1
Not legal advice

This describes the law and its evidence. It does not tell anyone what they may do.

No commercial content

No operators are listed or promoted for Iran. Exposure data is published for research and compliance.

Gaps stay visible

Unknown and conflicting items stay on the page until a primary source resolves them.

Sources

  1. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology: Combating online gambling in Iranian and English law (Articles 705-711)jclc.sdil.ac.ir
  2. Magiran: Analysis of sports betting in Iran's legal systemmagiran.com
Identifier
CR-JUR-IR
Research depth
Baseline
Desk research
Oct 2026
Knowledge base snapshot
2026-10-15
Sources
2 cited, high confidence

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