Iran’s governance has worsened in the past two years under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration, according to a report released Thursday by monitoring group Freedom House.

“Countries at the Crossroads,” an annual survey of government performance in 30 strategically important countries worldwide, showed a decline in Iran’s democratic character since 2005.

Political interference in the judicial system has intensified, cronyism has become more pervasive and violations of civil liberties have increased, according to the report.

“While the world has been outraged by the recent brutal treatment of Iranian Americans visiting family in Iran, two of whom are still held hostage by the Iranian regime, the Iranian government’s actions have also shown an increased disregard for ordinary citizens living in the country,” said Freedom House executive director Jennifer Windsor.

“The regime increasingly tramples individual rights and puts the state at the service of an elite that is dominated by senior clerics and the Revolutionary Guard.”

Corruption is rife in Iran and the State Audit Court has revealed numerous cases of embezzlement from state agencies, the report said, citing $6 billion in oil revenues that was never deposited in the national treasury last year.