Iran
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| Iran | |
|---|---|
| ایران (Īrān) | |
| |
| Tehran and the Alborz mountains at twilight | |
| Capital | Tehran |
| Continent | Asia |
| Subregion | West Asia |
| Cannabis Status | |
| Legal Status | Illegal |
| Status Since | 1988 |
| Enforcement | Prohibition enforced; capital penalties available in extremis |
| Documentation | |
| Growing Regions | 0 |
| Growing Areas | 0 |
| Accessions | 8 |
Iran is a country in West Asia. Before the Islamic era Zoroastrian priests cultivated cannabis and used it in ritual. The physician Avicenna recommended it medically. The hashish pipe is still called nafir-e vahdat, the trumpet of unity with god, and Sufi dervishes took a preparation of yogurt and cannabis called dugh-e vahdat, the drink of unity.[1]
Iran's Senate approved the first law making cannabis illegal in 1959. The Islamic Republic's drug laws of 1988 set penalties for cannabis equal to those for opium, reaching in extremis to the death penalty (see Legal status).[1]
The Real Seed Company lists Iranian landrace lines from the Khorasan region in the north-east and from Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the far south-east, on the Pakistan frontier.[2][3]
Geography
Iran is a large, largely arid plateau ringed by mountains, with the Alborz along the north and the Zagros down the west.[citation needed] The Real Seed Company's Iranian lines come from opposite corners of the east.
The northern one comes from Khorasan, on the Afghan frontier.[2] The southern comes from Sistan and Baluchestan, which The Real Seed Company places in the far east of the country on the frontier of Pakistan and not far, in relative terms, from south-eastern Afghanistan; its sourcing line names Saravan, at about 27° N.[3]
Demographics
Agriculture
Ghiabi and colleagues record that cannabis is at times grown on the balconies and terraces of urban centres, in a climate they describe as ideal for it.[1]
Cannabis in Iran
History
Ghiabi and colleagues write that before the Islamic era the plant was cultivated and used in ritual by Zoroastrian priests. A reference to a "sacred plant" in one of the Avestan hymns, they note, is thought to refer to cannabis. In the Canon Avicenna recommended it as an analgesic for headaches, in a preparation mixed into a mass with honey.[1]
The Sufi Qalandars, who originated in Khorasan, made hashish a hallmark of their public behaviour. The hashish pipe is still called nafir-e vahdat, the trumpet of unity with god, while dervishes consumed a preparation called dugh-e vahdat, the drink of unity.[1] The Real Seed Company's Iranian listing places in Khorasan the khanqah of Qutb ad-Din Haydar, the Sufi mystic whom legend credits with discovering hashish.[2]
Cultivation
Varieties and genetics
Studies of a panel of 145 Iranian landrace accessions include a genome-wide association study of phenological, morphological and phytochemical traits in Cannabis landraces;[4] a study integrating temporal morphophysiological and genomic markers to classify flowering time;[5] and a sex-chromosome-aware association study of agronomic architecture.[6]
Preparations and consumption
Ghiabi and colleagues describe the traditional hashish smokers, the bangis, as in part replaced by urban marijuana smokers from the modern, wealthier end of the social spectrum. They record the head of the Drug Control Headquarters saying that a new drug, gol (flower), had become the second most commonly consumed after opium.[1]
Religious and cultural use
Ghiabi and colleagues put eight questions on cannabis to 19 leading maraje'-e taqlid. For the majority, they report, cannabis is not haram, that is, not totally forbidden, and most see no ban on its medical use where scientific and medical research justifies it.[1]
Trade and commerce
Legal status
Cannabis is prohibited. Ghiabi and his co-authors date the first Iranian law making it illegal to 1959, when the Senate approved it, and the Islamic Republic's drug laws to 1988, when they were approved by the Council for the Expediency of State; those set penalties for cannabis equal to those for opium production and contemplated, in extremis, the death penalty.[1]
Growing Regions
Landrace cannabis growing regions currently documented on the wiki: No growing regions documented yet.
Growing Areas
Landrace cannabis growing areas currently documented on the wiki: No growing areas documented yet.
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Priority | Collected | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmondson 833 (1971) | Edmondson 833 herbarium specimen, Mooteh (1971) | |||
| Gabriel 253 (s.d.) | Gabriel 253 herbarium specimen, Deh Scheih (undated) | |||
| RSC-IRN-SIS-0120220001 | Iranian #2 General Population 2022 | Medium | ||
| RSC-IRN-UNK-0120190001 | Iranian General Population 2019 | Medium | ||
| RSC-IRN-UNK-0120190001-R1 | 2019 RSC Iranian Reproduction | |||
| RSC-IRN-UNK-0120220001 | Iranian #3 General Population 2022 | Medium | ||
| Sintenis 1331 (1900) | Sintenis 1331 herbarium specimen, Bandar-e Gaz (1900) | |||
| Starmühlner 187 (1949) | Starmühlner 187 herbarium specimen, Kerman (1949) |
Conservation status
Recent news
No recent news items.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Ghiabi, Maziyar; Maarefvand, Masoomeh; Bahari, Hamed; Alavi, Zohreh (2018). "Islam and cannabis: Legalisation and religious debate in Iran". International Journal of Drug Policy. 56: 121–127. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.03.009.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Iranian". The Real Seed Company. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Iranian #2". The Real Seed Company. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
- ↑ Babaei, Mehdi; Torkamaneh, Davoud (2026). "Genetic architecture of phenological, morphological, and phytochemical traits in Cannabis landraces". The Plant Genome. 19 (2). doi:10.1002/tpg2.70243.
- ↑ Babaei, Mehdi; Nemati, Hossein; Arouiee, Hossein; Torkamaneh, Davoud (2026). "Integrating temporal morphophysiological and genomic markers for precise classification of flowering time in cannabis". Scientific Reports. 16 23150. doi:10.1038/s41598-026-53686-y.
- ↑ Babaei, Mehdi; Torkamaneh, Davoud (2026). "Sex chromosome-aware GWAS reveals XY-linked agronomic architecture and breeding targets in cannabis". bioRxiv (Preprint). doi:10.64898/2026.06.18.733269.
- ↑ "Iranian". The Real Seed Company. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ "Iranian". The Real Seed Company. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2026.