Pornography in the Middle East has been somewhat minimally documented and researched by scholars.
[3] In Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and almost all other countries in the Middle East, pornography is illegal.
[citation needed] However, due to widespread Internet access (in particular, downloading programs) and the existence of a large-scale black market in Western films, a law in Iran was passed in mid-2007 by parliament but still required approval of the Guardian Council, producers of pornographic films face execution if found guilty.
[4] Pornography is readily available for users in a handful of Middle Eastern nations, such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Israel; and the production of pornography is also legal within Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Israel; to the exception of Iran where it is illegal to be produced, consumed, and sold or distributed even if easily available through the internet.
[5][6][7] In September 2011, A Syrian-Lebanese gang involved in promoting pornographic movies was arrested by the Lebanese general security forces, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.