Does Iran Celebrate Easter? The 98 Correct Answer

As you may already know, the official religion of Iran is Islam; Therefore, according to the law, no alcoholic beverages can be produced or sold in the country, which means that there are also no liquor stores, bars or nightclubs in Iran. But if that doesn’t change your plans for a trip to Iran, here are some things you need to know. Read everything you need to know about alcohol in Iran.

Is alcohol legal in Iran?

As mentioned above, the consumption, sale or purchase of alcohol is fundamentally illegal for anyone within the borders. So keep your head up! Being caught drunk or drinking alcohol or even carrying alcoholic beverages carries certain penalties.

I guess it’s not a huge surprise to know that despite Iran’s lack of alcohol factories, nightclubs and bars, there are still some illegal sources that produce and sell alcohol, most of which are actually made by people behind closed doors. But my suggestion is to stay away from such drinks (if they happen to be offered to you), as despite the trouble you might get into, they could cause some very serious health problems.

Also Read: 7 Myths That Stop You from Traveling to Iran

Do you serve drinks in hotels?

I think it is now clear that the answer is a NO. But the question is worth mentioning as there is a myth that serving alcoholic beverages in the hotels is legal. Forget it; there is no such law.

See also: Persian customs

Is it even forbidden to carry alcohol with you?

The answer is yes. You should also know that bringing alcohol into Iran is also illegal. So if you’ve packed any alcoholic beverages in your suitcase, guess it’s time to unpack them right away.

The drinking age in Iran

Now that both consumption and production of alcohol are illegal, it should come as no great surprise to know that there is no “drinking age” in Iran. So no matter how old a person is, they are not allowed to drink alcohol in this country.

See also: Farsi phrases

Alcohol in Iran for tourists

Alcohol in Iran is just as illegal for tourists as it is for everyone else. And it is not sold or served in cafes, restaurants and hotels or anywhere else in the country.

Should I still plan to visit Iran?

The answer is a big YES. Don’t let what you just read disappoint you; It’s a beautiful, enchanting place, full of things to discover, from its beautiful nature to its historical places, not to mention the amazing food. Honestly, you’ll be so busy having fun that you’ll barely have time to think about drinking. After all, every shop and cafe has fruit-flavored non-alcoholic beers that taste surprisingly good.

See also: Best time to go to Iran

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“By Niloofar Emami

Iranian-Armenians hum in the bazaars in the second half of December to prepare everything. They clean the house and ensure that the asterisk shines on top of the fir tree, that wreaths and golden balls are attached according to the children’s wishes and that little angels hover over the place where the presents are laid on Christmas Eve. All the splendor and charm of the decorations must wait until January 6th to reach its peak, since Orthodox Armenians believe in the birth and baptism of Jesus Christ on this day, which is also the feast of Epiphany. Armenians fast for the week leading up to the event, and on December 31, just before the festival they call Matzo, extraordinary rituals are held in the churchyard for the New Year. Visiting Vank Cathedral during these rituals is considered one of the best experiences during the holiday season. The special occasions of Armenian Christians occur on January 5th and 6th, when churchgoers are given anointing oil, which they believe has healing powers. And finally, they spend Christmas Eve at a relative’s house, where the whole family gets together and happily enjoys the time together.

weekends in Iran

In Iran, the working week in almost all public and government offices is Saturday through Thursday, and the weekend is Friday.

Banks and other government agencies are generally open on Thursdays from 07:30 to 13:00, and in larger cities, shopping centers and department stores are open on Thursdays and Fridays.

Besides Fridays, there are several other national or religious holidays when all offices are closed. On some special days even the museums are closed. These dates are colored red in the following table (calendar 2018).

The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but made a general reservation when ratifying it “not to apply any provision or article of the Convention that is inconsistent with Islamic law and applicable international law.”

The constitution states that the military must be Islamic, committed to Islamic ideals and recruit individuals committed to the goals of the Islamic revolution. In addition to the regular military, the IRGC is tasked with maintaining the Islamic character of the revolution at home and abroad. The law does not provide for exemption from military service based on religious affiliation. The law prohibits non-Muslims from holding positions of authority over Muslims in the armed forces. Members of recognized religious minorities with tertiary education may serve as officers during their compulsory military service, but may not serve beyond the compulsory period of service in order to become career officers.

The constitution allows political parties to be established on the basis of Islam or one of the recognized religious minorities, provided that the parties do not violate, among other things, the “criteria of Islam”.

The government does not recognize Bahá’í marriages or divorces, but allows civil certification of the marriage. The certificate serves as a marriage certificate and enables the partnership to be recognized in principle, but does not offer legal protection in the event of marital disputes.

The Government prohibits Bahá’ís from any government employment and prohibits Bahá’ís from participating in the state social pension system. Baha’i are not allowed to receive compensation for injuries or crimes committed against them and are not allowed to inherit property. A religious fatwa from the Supreme Leader encourages citizens to avoid any association with Baha’i.

According to the law, non-Muslims are not allowed to serve in the judiciary, in the security services (which are separate from the regular armed forces), or as school principals. Officials screen candidates for elected office and applicants for public sector employment on the basis of their affiliation with and knowledge of Islam, as well as their loyalty to the Islamic Republic (Gozinesh screening requirements), although members of recognized religious minorities are in the lower echelons of government can serve if they do so meet those loyalty requirements. Government employees who do not comply with Islamic principles and rules are punished and may be fired or banned from working in a particular sector.

The penal code provides hadud punishments (those prescribed by Sharia) for theft, including amputation of the fingers of the right hand, amputation of the left foot, life imprisonment and death, as well as flogging up to 99 lashes or stoning for other crimes.

The law allows the collection of “blood money” or diyeh in reparation to families for Muslims and members of recognized religious minorities who have been victims of murder, physical harm or property damage. However, Baha’i families are not entitled to “blood money”. This law also reduces the “blood money” for recognized religious minorities and women to half that of a Muslim man. Women are entitled to the same “blood money” as men, but only for insurance claims involving deaths in car accidents and not for other types of deaths, such as accidents. B. Murder. When it comes to bodily harm, according to the law, certain male organs (e.g. the testicles) are worth more than a woman’s entire body.

The constitution states that the government must “treat non-Muslims in accordance with the principles of Islamic justice and justice and respect their human rights so long as those non-Muslims have not conspired or acted against Islam and the Islamic Republic.”

According to the constitution, a judge should decide a case based on codified law, but in a situation lacking such law, he should make his judgment based on “authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwas”.

The Constitution states that in regions where adherents of one of the recognized schools of Sunni Islam form a majority, local regulations shall be in accordance with that school, within the limits of the jurisdiction of the local councils and without violating the rights of adherents of Sunni Islam have other schools.

Non-Muslims cannot be elected to any representative body or hold high government, intelligence or military positions, except for five of the 290 seats in Parliament, which are reserved for constitutionally recognized religious minorities. Two places are reserved for Armenian Christians, one for Assyrian and Chaldean Christians together, one for Jews and one for Zoroastrians.

The constitution forbids Parliament from passing laws contrary to Islam, and states that there may be no change in its provisions regarding the “Islamic character” of the political or legal system, or stating that the Shi’a Islam of the Twelve Yes ‘afari is the official religion.

Under the constitution, Islamic scholars elect the Supreme Leader at the Assembly of Experts, an assembly of 86 popularly elected clergymen recognized by the Supreme Leader, whose qualifications include piety and religious studies. In order to “protect” the Islamic ordinances and to ensure that the laws passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly (i.e. the Parliament or Majles) are compatible with Islam, a Guardian Council is formed, composed of six Shia clergy, who are appointed by the Supreme Leader The judiciary must review and approve all legislation. The Guardian Council also scrutinizes all candidates for the Assembly of Experts, the President, and Parliament, and oversees elections to these bodies. Persons who are not Shia Muslims are prohibited from serving as Supreme Leader or President, as well as from being a member of the Assembly of Experts, the Guardian Council, or the Expediency Council (the country’s supreme arbiter of disputes between Parliament and the Guardian Legislation) .

The law prohibits Baha’is from founding or operating their own educational institutions. An order from the Department of Science, Research and Technology requires universities to bar Baha’is from accessing higher education or expel them if their religious affiliation becomes known. State regulations state that Bahá’ís may only enroll in universities if they do not identify themselves as Bahá’ís. To register for the college entrance exam, Bahá’í students must answer a simple multiple choice question and identify themselves as adherents of a religion other than Bahá’í (e.g., Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or Zoroastrianism).

Recognized religious minorities, with the exception of Sunni Muslims, are allowed to run private schools. The Ministry of Education oversees the private schools run by recognized religious minorities and sets certain curriculum requirements. The ministry must approve all textbooks used in the classroom, including religious texts. These schools can offer their own religious education in languages ​​other than Farsi, but the authorities must also approve these texts. Minority communities must bear the cost of translating the texts into Farsi for official review. Principals of such private schools must show loyalty to the official state religion. Known as the Gozinesh review, this requirement is an assessment to establish adherence to the government’s ideology and system and knowledge of the official interpretation of Shia Islam.

The Ministry of Education sets the religious curriculum for public schools. All school curricula, public and private, must include a course on Shia Islamic teachings, and all students must pass this course in order to advance through university to the next level of education. Sunni students and students of recognized religious minorities are required to take and pass the courses on Shia Islam, although they can also take separate courses on their own religious beliefs. To pass the college entrance exam, applicants must pass an exam in Islamic, Christian, or Jewish theology based on their official religious affiliation.

The constitution provides for freedom of the press except when it “damages the principles of Islam or the rights of the public.”

The Supreme Leader (the Velayat-e Faqih, the Guardian of Islamic Jurisprudence), the country’s head of state, oversees extrajudicial special courts of clergy that are not provided for in the constitution. The courts, each headed by a Shia Islamic jurist, operate outside the jurisdiction of the judiciary and investigate crimes committed by clerics, including political statements inconsistent with government policy and non-religious activities. The courts also issue judgments based on an independent interpretation of Islamic legal sources. The constitution provides that the judiciary is “an independent power” “free from every kind of unhealthy relationship and association”. The government appoints judges “according to religious criteria”.

Citizens belonging to one of the recognized religious minorities must register with the authorities. Registration confers certain rights, including the consumption of alcohol for religious purposes. Authorities can close down a church and arrest its leaders if churchgoers do not register or if unregistered people attend services. The law does not recognize people who convert to Christianity as Christians. They are not allowed to register and do not have the same rights as recognized members of Christian communities.

Since the law prohibits citizens from converting from Islam to any other religion, the government only recognizes Christianity from citizens who are Armenian or Assyrian Christians, since the presence of these groups in the country predates Islam, or from citizens who who they or their families can prove were Christians before the 1979 revolution. The government also recognizes the Sabaean-Mandeans as Christians, although they state that they do not consider themselves as such. The government often considers Yarsanis to be Shia Muslims practicing Sufism, but Yarsanis identify Yarsan as a distinct faith (known as Ahl-e-Haq or Kakai). Yarsanis can also register themselves as Shia in order to receive government services. The government does not recognize evangelical Protestants as Christians.

The constitution states that Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians are the only recognized religious minorities. “Within the law” they are permitted to perform religious rites and ceremonies and to found religious societies. They are also free to arrange personal affairs and religious instruction according to their own religious canon. The government considers any citizen who is not a registered member of one of these three groups, or who cannot prove that their family was Christian before 1979, to be a Muslim.

The constitution states that the four Sunni schools (Hanafi, Shafi, Maliki and Hanbali) and the Shi’a Zaydi school of Islam “deserve perfect respect” and their followers are free to engage in religious practices. It states that these schools may follow their own case law in matters of religious education and certain personal matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance.

The penal code provides for the death penalty for moharebeh (“enmity against God”, which, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Islam, in Qur’anic usage means “corrupt conditions caused by infidels or unjust people, which threaten social and political well-being”), fisad fil-arz ( “corruption on earth,” which includes apostasy or heresy) and sabb al-nabi (“insulting the Prophet” or “insulting the sanctities [Islam]”). Under the Criminal Code, the application of the death penalty varies depending on the religion of the offender and the victim.

The law prohibits non-Muslims from engaging in public persuasion or attempted proselytization of Muslims. The law considers these activities proselytizing and punishable by death. In addition, citizens who are not recognized as Christians, Zoroastrians, or Jews may not engage in public religious expressions, such as B. Services in a church or wearing religious symbols such as crosses. The government makes some exceptions for foreigners who belong to unrecognized religious groups.

The Constitution forbids the examination of a person’s ideas and states that no one “shall be questioned and attacked simply for expressing an opinion.” The law prohibits Muslims from changing or renouncing their religious beliefs. The only recognized conversions are from another religion to Islam. Conversion from Islam can be considered apostasy under Sharia, a crime punishable by death. According to the law, a child born to a Muslim father is a Muslim.

The constitution defines the country as an Islamic republic and designates the Shia Islam of the Twelve Ja’afari as the official state religion. The constitution stipulates that all laws and regulations must be based on “Islamic criteria” and an official interpretation of Sharia. The constitution states that citizens should enjoy all human, political, economic, social and cultural rights “in accordance with Islamic criteria”.

government practices

Because religion and ethnicity are often closely linked, it has been difficult to categorize many incidents solely on the basis of religious identity.

According to numerous international human rights organizations, the government has sentenced and executed dissidents, political reformers and peaceful protesters on charges of “enmity against God” and anti-Islamic propaganda. According to Amnesty International and Voice of America (VOA), a family official of Hedayat Abdollahpour, a Sunni Kurdish activist, said on June 10 that they had executed him on or around May 21 in the city of Oshnavieh. Authorities then issued a death certificate to the family, showing that he died on May 11 as a result of “beating by hard or sharp objects.” A phrase previously documented by Amnesty International was used on death certificates from gunshot wounds. Authorities arrested Abdollahpour in 2016 in connection with an armed struggle between the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran and the IRGC. The government accused him of “taking up arms [against the government]” and “supporting a dissident group,” but he denied it. The NGO Justice4Iran reported that the authorities did not notify Abdollahpour’s family members at the time of his execution and his whereabouts were unknown for many months before his death, prompting international observers to ask the authorities for information on his case. At the end of the year, the government still refused to disclose what it had done with Abdollahpour’s remains. According to Kurdistan Human Rights-Geneva, among the nine political prisoners executed alongside Abdollahpour in 2020, there were three other Sunni Kurdish political prisoners charged with “enmity against God” and other vague national security charges – Mustafa Salimi, Saber Shehkh Abdullah , and Diako Rasulzadeh – and two Sunni Baluchis – Abdulbaset Dehani and Abdulhameed Baluchzahi.

According to Radio Farda and IranWire, on July 9 the authorities executed a man identified by social media users as Morteza Jamali in the central Mashad prison, who was arrested and charged with “consumption of alcohol”. IranWire reported that Jamali’s lawyer said he was arrested in 2017 or 2018 and charged with multiple drinking. Under the country’s Islamic penal code, drinking alcohol is a “crime against God,” and the first penalty is usually flogging. However, Article 179 of the Code states that if arrested three times, the accused faces the death penalty.

According to the U.S. Institute of Peace and multiple media reports, a Revolutionary Court on February 22 sentenced to death three young men who took part in anti-government protests in November 2019, which began in response to the government raising fuel prices. The government accused the men of “participation in vandalism and arson with intent to confront and wage war with the Islamic Republic of Iran” and “enmity against God.” The reports identified the three men as Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohammad Rajabi. Amnesty International said her trial was unfair and the security forces “tortured her with beatings, electric shocks and hung her upside down.” Gholam-Hossein Esmaeili, a spokesman for the country’s judiciary, confirmed the death sentences of the three protesters on July 14 and accused them of “having links to certain groups abroad”. Citizens posted articles on social media with the hashtag “DoNotExecute”. On July 19, the country’s judiciary announced it would stay the executions.

CHRI reported that the government announced the execution of two Sunni Baluchi prisoners, Behnam Rigi and Shoaib Rigi, on December 19 at the central prison in Zahedan in Sistan and Balochistan province. On December 20, the government executed a third Baloch prisoner, Abdolbaset Khesht, arrested in 2012, in Dozap Central Prison in the same province. Authorities accused the men of membership in militant Sunni Muslim groups. NGOs and the press reported that three other Sunni prisoners being held in Zahedan face imminent execution.

According to Iran Focus, on September 10 the Supreme Court upheld for the third time the death sentences against seven Sunni prisoners. The authorities held inmates Farhad Salimi, Qassem Absteh, Davood Abdollahi, Ayub Karimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosrow Besharat and Kamran Sheikha in Urmia, Evin and Rajai Shahr prisons for 11 years after their arrest in 2009. The government charged men with “acting against national security,” “propaganda against the state,” and “moharebeh.”

According to the Kurdistan Press Agency and a Kurdish NGO, on October 4, security forces arrested a Kurdish Sunni imam, Mamousta Rasoul Hamzehpour, in the city of Piranshahr. Authorities arrested Hamzehpour at his home, which they ransacked. The source of the news report said the government had arrested Hamzehpur, who the source said was one of the most prominent clergymen in the province, on several occasions in the past. At the end of the year, his whereabouts and the status of his case were unknown.

The ABC said that from January 2000 to November 2020, the government sentenced at least 237 people to amputation and carried out the sentence in at least 129 cases. Commenting on the report, Amnesty International said: “The actual death toll may be higher as many cases are believed to go unreported.” During that time, the government flogged at least 2,134 people, including at least 17 children, according to ABC. According to ABC, those numbers meant that authorities have, on average, amputated at least one person’s fingers every two months and flogged at least two people every week for the past 20 years.

According to Amnesty International, members of IRGC’s intelligence unit arrested Kurdish activist and documentary filmmaker Yarsani, Mozhgan Kavousi, at her home in Noshahr, Mazandran province, mainly in connection with her writings on social media about the November 2019 protests. IGRC intelligence officers detained Kavousi in a Mazandran prison, where she was held in solitary confinement for a long period of time. Branch 1 of the Noshahr Revolutionary Court sentenced them to five and nine in connection with two posts on their Instagram account about the protests of “spreading propaganda against the system” and “inciting to disturb the order and security of the country”. years months in prison. As of May she was serving her sentence in Evin Prison along with 35 other female political prisoners (as of the end of the year).

In March and April, thousands of prisoners in at least eight prisons across the country, many in provinces with Sunni Ahwazi Arab, Kurdish and Azerbaijani Turkish ethnic minorities, protested over fears of contracting the COVID-19 virus, according to Amnesty International infect. Prison authorities and security forces reportedly responded with live ammunition and tear gas to quell the protests, killing around 35 inmates at two prisons and injuring hundreds more. According to reports from families of prisoners, journalists and Ahwazi Arab human rights activists and organizations, security forces used excessive force to quell protests on March 30 and 31, resulting in up to 15 deaths in Sepidar prison and 20 in Sheiban prison , both of which are located in the city of Ahvaz in the province of Khuzestan. Amnesty International reported that numerous videos taken outside both prisons and shared on social media sites showed smoke billowing from the buildings while gunfire was heard. The authorities relocated Arab minority rights activist Mohammad Ali Amourinejad and several other inmates, including prisoners of conscience, who are serving life sentences on charges of “enmity against God” for championing the educational and cultural rights of Ahwazi Arabs had, after the riots from Sheiban prison. At the end of the year, the government continued to hold these prisoners incommunicado at an undisclosed location.

On October 8, ahead of World Day against the Death Penalty, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) released a report on the country’s use of the death penalty, saying it was “an indelible stain on the country’s human rights record”. According to the report’s language, “The death penalty … has often been imposed on members of Iran’s ethnic communities and religious minorities, particularly in political cases based on moharebeh, ‘spreading corruption on earth’, insurgency and other vaguely worded crimes.” According to the FIDH report, “These ethnic and religious groups face widespread and long-standing discrimination in relation to their political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights, which has fueled resentment towards the central government. Over the past four decades, various groups in ethnically populated regions have engaged in oppositional activities and occasionally taken up arms. Instead of addressing their grievances, the Iranian authorities have responded with tough measures, including the widespread use of the death penalty… Members of religious minorities [who have been the target of executions] include some groups of Sunni Muslims in the western provinces of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Sistan and Balochistan; Followers of Ahl-e-Haq [Yarsan] Shia sect in West Azerbaijan province; and Bahai.”

Residents of provinces with large Sunni populations, including Kurdistan, Khuzestan, Sistan and Balochistan, reported continued repression by judicial and security officials, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and torture in detention. They also reported discrimination (including suppression of religious rights), denial of basic government services, and underfunding of infrastructure projects. Iran Human Rights and other human rights activists continued to report disproportionate executions of Sunni prisoners, particularly Kurds, Baloch and Arabs.

On May 6, IranWire and the Organization of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples (UNPO) reported that security forces shot dead two Sunni Baluchi brothers, 18-year-old Mohammad and 20-year-old Mehdi Pourian, at their home in the Iranshahr capital Province of Sistan and Balochistan. Security forces also reportedly killed 17-year-old Daniel Brahovi in ​​the incident. Iranshahr’s prosecutor told local media that the three were “famous and known villains” and that “weapons and ammunition were confiscated from them”. The families of the three dead lodged a complaint against the security forces involved, but received no response. According to a report, local police and the prosecutor threatened to kill the Pourian family if they took the case any further.

According to ABC, on October 14, officers at the Borazjan city prosecutor’s office flogged a Christian convert, Mohammad Reza (Yohan) Omidi, 80 times for drinking sacrament wine. Authorities released Omidi from Evin prison in August after serving two years on charges of “founding home churches” and “promoting Zionist Christianity”. In September he moved to Borazjan, Bushehr province, to serve a two-year sentence in internal exile. Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced Omidi and other members of the Confession of the Iranian Church Yussef Nadarkhani, Zaman (Saheb) Fadai and Mohammad Ali (Yasser) Mosayebzadeh to 10 years in prison in 2017. At a retrial in June, a court reduced Nadarkhani and Fadai to six years each and Omidi to two years. On November 15, authorities summoned Fadai to appear before Shahid Moghadas’ Revolutionary Court, where he received 80 lashes for drinking communion wine, according to UK-based NGO Article 18, which focuses on religious freedom in Iran.

Human rights NGOs including CHRI, HRANA and Gonabadi Sufi dervishes official website Majzooban Noor reported extremely poor conditions in Qarchak prison for women throughout the year, including reports from Shia guards who were independent of all inmates required by their faith Use a chador as a head-to-toe covering.

According to human rights activists, the government continued to crack down on Christian converts from Islam, using arbitrary arrests, physical abuse and other forms of harsh treatment. Article 18 reported that on January 12, authorities arrested Christian convert Fatemeh (Mary) Mohammadi during protests in central Tehran and took her to Vozara detention center, where male and female prison guards beat her so badly that she became visible for three weeks bruised. The detention center staff forced her to sit outside in extremely cold temperatures, withheld food and searched her for up to 24 hours after her arrest. They transferred Mohammadi to Qarchak prison, where her bail was set at around 95 million rials (US$2,300), more than the average Iranian’s annual salary. Mohammadi had already been in prison for six months for her Christian activities on charges of “action against national security” and “propaganda against the system”. According to VOA, Mohammadi told her Instagram followers on April 21 that she had spent 46 days in “appalling conditions” during her detention. She said authorities sentenced her to three months in prison and 10 lashes for taking part in the January protests, but suspended the sentence for a year so she could remain free.

In einem Juli-Bericht äußerte der UN-Sonderberichterstatter für die Menschenrechtslage in der Islamischen Republik Iran, Javaid Rehman, seine Besorgnis über die gemeldete hohe Zahl politischer und gewaltloser politischer Gefangener aserbaidschanisch-türkischer, kurdischer und ahwaziischer Araber Gemeinschaften, von denen viele religiösen Minderheiten angehörten.

Am 6. Mai berichtete Amnesty International, dass Hossein Sepanta, ein Gefangener im Adel-Abad-Gefängnis in Shiraz, schwer krank sei, weil ihm die Behörden eine angemessene Behandlung seiner Rückenmarkserkrankung verweigerten. CHRI hatte 2019 berichtet, dass die Gefängnisbehörden Sepanta, einen Konvertiten vom Islam zum Zoroastrismus, als Reaktion auf seinen Hungerstreik in die „Strafeinheit“ des Adel-Abad-Gefängnisses verlegt hatten. Laut einer Quelle innerhalb des Gefängnisses schlug ein Vernehmer Sepanta schwer, woraufhin er Probleme hatte, beim Gehen das Gleichgewicht zu halten. Sepanta verbüßte 2013 eine 14-jährige Haftstrafe wegen „Propaganda gegen den Staat“ und „Versammlung und geheimer Absprache gegen die nationale Sicherheit“.

Laut Menschenrechtsaktivisten wurden Belutschen sowohl als sunnitische Gläubige als auch als ethnische Minderheit von der Regierung diskriminiert. Aktivisten für die Rechte der Belutschen berichteten von fortgesetzten willkürlichen Festnahmen, körperlichen Misshandlungen und unfairen Gerichtsverfahren gegen Journalisten und Menschenrechtsaktivisten. Sie berichteten, dass die Behörden oft Familienmitglieder von Inhaftierten unter Druck setzten, zu schweigen. Das Büro des Hohen Kommissars der Vereinten Nationen für Menschenrechte (OHCHR) und Amnesty International forderten die Behörden auf, die Hinrichtung eines Belutschens, Javid Dehghan, auszusetzen, der unter Folter gezwungen worden war, zu gestehen, dass er Mitglied einer berufenen salafistischen Terrorgruppe war Jaish ul-Adl und erschoss 2015 zwei IRGC-Agenten in einem Hinterhalt. Laut OHCHR gab es im Dezember eine Serie von „mindestens 28“ Hinrichtungen im Land. Ein OHCHR-Sprecher sagte: „Dazu gehörte eine Reihe von Hinrichtungen von Angehörigen ethnischer und religiöser Minderheiten – insbesondere von Kurden, Ahwazi-Arabern und Belutschen.“

Laut IranWire veröffentlichte Ayatollah Mahmoud Amjad, der die Regierung in der Vergangenheit viele Male kritisiert hatte, am 15. Dezember ein Video, in dem er gegen die Hinrichtung eines regimekritischen Journalisten durch die Regierung protestierte und den Obersten Führer Ali Khamenei für das Blutvergießen im Land seit 2009 verantwortlich machte. Er auch forderte andere Geistliche und Religionswissenschaftler auf, über die Gewalt nicht zu schweigen.

Die Regierung sperrte weiterhin zahlreiche Gefangene wegen verschiedener Anschuldigungen im Zusammenhang mit der Religion ein. Der Iran Prison Atlas, eine Datenbank, die von der in den USA ansässigen NGO United for Iran zusammengestellt wurde, gab an, dass mindestens 60 Mitglieder religiöser Minderheitengruppen weiterhin inhaftiert waren, weil sie „Praktizierende religiöser Minderheiten“ waren. Von den Gefangenen in der Atlas-Datenbank verurteilte die Regierung mindestens 25 zu langjährigen Haftstrafen oder hingerichtete sie wegen „Feindschaft gegen Gott“ oder einer Anklage, die sich auf Gruppen bezog, die Waffen gegen die Regierung (baghi) erhoben, was Beamte manchmal einsetzten letzten Jahren statt „Feindschaft gegen Gott“. Die Behörden verurteilten mindestens 43 Personen wegen „Beleidigung des Obersten Führers und Ayatollah Khomeini“ und mindestens 13 wegen „Beleidigung des Propheten oder des Islam“ zu Gefängnisstrafen.

Am 28. Mai berichtete Radio Farda, dass die Polizei in der Provinz Khuzestan sagte, sie habe „14 Agenten von Takfiri und Separatistengruppen“ festgenommen. Dem Bericht zufolge verwendeten die Behörden takfiri als Überbegriff für sunnitische Dissidentengruppen und sunnitische Einzelpersonen. Die Polizei beschuldigte die Festgenommenen, auf Regierungsgebäude geschossen und die Flagge von Dissidentengruppen in der ganzen Stadt gehisst zu haben.

Am 22. November berichteten NGOs und mehrere Medien, dass die Behörden in „gleichzeitigen Operationen“ die Häuser von Dutzenden von Bahai im ganzen Land durchsuchten. Sicherheitsbeamte, die vage formulierte Durchsuchungsbefehle besaßen, beschlagnahmten persönliche Gegenstände, Mobiltelefone, Computer, Laptops und religiöse Bücher und Bilder. In einigen Fällen beschlagnahmten Agenten Berichten zufolge auch Bargeld und Personalausweise. Some of the Baha’is whose homes were searched had previously served prison sentences, including Afif Naeimi, a member of the former leadership body of the country’s Baha’i community, who was freed in 2018 after serving a 10-year sentence, and Riaz Sobhani and Shahrokh Taef, who each had served four-year sentences in Rajaei Shahr Prison.

Human rights NGOs reported poor prison conditions and mistreatment of religious minorities held in government prisons. On September 26, VOA reported that since August, authorities denied a Gonabadi Sufi dervish, Benham Mahjoubi, medical treatment, including medication provided by his family, for a panic disorder, and forcibly transferred him from Evin Prison to the Razi Aminabad psychiatric hospital in Tehran. Amnesty International stated that authorities subjected Mahjoubi to torture and gave him injections of an unknown substance on multiple occasions against his will. Mahjoubi’s wife posted on social media that authorities transferred him to the facility after he was paralyzed in a fall. According to VOA, the government had arrested Mahjoubi for taking part in street protests in Tehran in 2018, along with 300 other Gonabadi Sufi dervishes who had been demanding the release from house arrest of their leader, Dr. Noor Ali Tabandeh (who subsequently died on December 24, 2019).

In May, Gonabadi dervish Reza Yavari told VOA that authorities forced him to relocate to the northeastern town of Taybad, in Razavi Khorasan Province, to start a two-year sentence of internal exile following his April 1 pardon and release from a prison in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, capital of Khuzestan Province. Yavari, a native of Khuzestan who was studying at a Tehran university prior to his 2018 detention, accused authorities of acting illegally by forcing him into internal exile after granting him a pardon. Yavari told VOA that 38 other dervishes had also been forced into internal exile and expressed concern about the government’s ongoing imprisonment of eight other dervish activists who were among more than 300 dervish community members arrested for involvement in antigovernment protests in Tehran in 2018. In August, four dervishes whom the government sentenced to internal exile told VOA that they rejected the claim made by a government representative in a press briefing that the government did not maintain a predetermined list of destinations for internal banishment. The four men said that the government sends released prisoners to live in poor towns, with harsh climates, far from the country’s population centers and their homes.

According to the human rights NGO Hengaw, in late September, government security services arrested three Kurdish religious activists, Syawash (Forat), Behzad Talayi, and Farshad Fatahi in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province. The government transferred the men to Urmia Central Prison on October 14. According to the NGO, the government arrested the three individuals because of religious activities and “propaganda” on behalf of “Islamic extremist groups.”

There continued to be reports of arrests and harassment of Sunni clerics and congregants. According to a June report by the online news source Balochwarna News, Sunni cleric Molavi Fazl al-Rahman Kouhi remained in prison in the northeastern city of Mashhad on the orders of a special clerical court that summoned and jailed him in November 2019 following nationwide antigovernment protests after a sharp increase in gasoline prices. Kouhi served as the Friday prayer leader for the town of Pashamagh, inhabited mostly by Baluchi Sunnis. The court summoned and jailed him days after he gave a sermon criticizing the country’s Shia-dominated government for violently suppressing the protests. According to the report, Kouhi’s sermon described the crackdown as un-Iranian, un-Islamic, and inhumane. Abdol Sattar Doshoki, an exiled Sunni rights activist, said that the government’s apparent arbitrary detention of an outspoken Sunni cleric was the latest sign of a bleak future for the country’s Sunni Muslim minority.

Balochwarna News reported that security forces arrested Molawi Mohammad Qalandarzai, a Sunni imam, on February 27 at his home in Zahedan.

Iran Focus stated that during the year, the government increased its persecution of Sunnis in the parts of the country that have large Sunni populations. The website stated that human rights groups reported that authorities summoned, interrogated, and arrested several Sunni religious teachers, students, and civil activists during the month of Ramadan, which began in late April. Authorities detained at least 10 Sunnis in Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province. According to other reports, the Sanandaj Intelligence Agency summoned Ali Moradi, a Sunni cleric, and his son Mohammad at the beginning of Ramadan. On April 22, the IRGC summoned and interrogated Maktoom Askani, a Sunni activist in Zahedan in Sistan and Baluchistan Province. The Zahedan Revolutionary Guards Corps summoned and arrested Abdul Rauf Dashti, another Sunni activist. In late April, the Human Rights News Agency reported that MOIS summoned and interrogated Shahdad Zehi, a Sunni cleric in Sarbaz in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. On May 21, the Baluch Activists Campaign said that the Zahedan Revolutionary Guards Corps summoned and interrogated Akram Kuhi, the temporary head of Friday prayers in Peshamag village. The reports said that after the IRGC officials asked Kuhi about the employees, teachers, and students at a local religious school, they summoned and interrogated four other Sunnis from the school in September.

NGOs reported that as of October 27, there were 38 Baha’is – 16 men and 22 women – in prison. Twenty-six of them – 19 women and seven men – were placed there in 2020. NGOs reported that it was not clear whether holding twice as many women as men was accidental or whether it marked the beginning of a trend designed to apply additional pressure on the Baha’i community. In Shiraz, authorities summoned 26 Baha’is for a criminal hearing on October 5.

According to Iran Press Watch (IPW), on December 24, Branch 2 of the Bandar Abbas Revolutionary Court sentenced eight Baha’is for “gathering and colluding with the intent to disrupt the security of the country.” Six Baha’is received two-year prison sentences and two received one-year prison sentences. The court banned them from membership in political and social parties and groups, including Baha’i banquets and gatherings, for a period of two years and sentenced them to five sessions of “counseling on sectarian issues.”

According to press reporting, on September 7, a court in southern Khorasan Province sentenced eight Baha’is – six women and two men – to prison for “membership in the illegal Baha’i organization, which is a threat to national security.” Authorities arrested the eight during a celebration of a Baha’i holiday. The court gave the defendants – Ataollah Melaki, Attiyeh Salehi, Saeed Melaki, Roya Melaki, Nasrin Ghadiri, Arezou Mohammadi, Farzaneh Dimi, and Banafshe Mokhatari – sentences ranging from 15 months to two years’ imprisonment. Some of these individuals wrote letters to Birjand judicial authorities requesting a delay in starting their sentences due to the rampant spread of COVID-19 in prisons. Authorities denied their requests, however, and the group began serving their sentences on October 20.

On June 8, the Baha’i International Community (BIC) reported that in the weeks leading up to that date, authorities summoned 55 Baha’is to court in Shiraz, Birjand, Karaj, and Kermanshah, trying and sentencing 26 of them; summoned 11 Baha’is to prison in Shiraz, Ghaemshahr, and Birjand; arrested three Baha’is in Yazd; and arrested two Baha’is in Isfahan, releasing them shortly thereafter. In a court hearing in Shiraz, a court official threatened to “uproot” the Baha’is in the city.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that on September 17, security forces arrested brothers Salar Ghazali and Saman Ghazali, holding them in a MOIS detention center for 75 days before transferring them to Mahabad Prison. In mid-December, Branch 1 of the Mahabad Revolutionary Court tried them for “acting against national security through membership in a Kurdish opposition party” and “propaganda against the state.”

Activists and NGOs reported that Yarsani activists and community leaders continued to be subjected to detention or disappearance for engaging in awareness-raising regarding government practices or discrimination against the Yarsani community.

IPW and IranWire reported that on May 2, IRGC agents raided the Isfahan homes of three Baha’is, Shahzad Hosseini, his son Shayan Hosseini, and Shahzad’s mother. Security personnel then arrested Shayan Hosseini and transferred him to an unknown location. According to a close relative of Shayan, during the raids, agents searched for small wooden boxes that the families used to store prayer books.

Non-Armenian Christians, particularly evangelicals and other converts from Islam, continued to experience disproportionate levels of arrests and detentions and high levels of harassment and surveillance, according to Christian NGOs. Human rights organizations and Christian NGOs continued to report authorities arrested Christians, including members of unrecognized churches, for their religious affiliation or activities, and charged them with “operating” illegally in private homes or supporting and accepting assistance from “enemy” countries. Many arrests reportedly took place during police raids on religious gatherings and included confiscation of religious property. News reports stated authorities subjected arrested Christians to severe physical and psychological mistreatment, which at times included beatings and solitary confinement. According to human rights NGOs, the government also continued to enforce the prohibition against proselytizing.

On May 28, authorities summoned Hossein Kadivar, Khalil Dehghanpour, Kamal Naamanian, and Mohammed Vafadar to begin serving five-year prison sentences. The government arrested the men in early 2019 before releasing them on bail. The four men were among nine Christian converts belonging to the Church of Iran denomination arrested over a four-week period, accused of endangering state security and promoting Zionism. The government transferred the other five converts, who were unable to afford bail, to Evin Prison shortly after their 2019 arrests. In late 2019, a court convicted all nine of “acting against national security” and sentenced them to five years’ imprisonment. A court upheld the sentences on appeal in February.

In July, a court convicted seven of eight Christian converts arrested in Bushehr in 2019 of “propaganda against the regime.” One of the Christians, Sam Khosravi, received a one-year prison term followed by two years of internal exile. The court fined Maryam Falahi, his wife, who worked as a nurse, 80 million rials ($1,900) and banned her from working in a public institution. After their sentencing, a court ruled that as Christians, the couple were not fit to raise their daughter, whom they adopted as an infant in early 2019 and whom the court viewed as a Muslim. In September, an appeals court upheld that decision, despite the daughter’s physical disabilities, which, according to the judge, made her chances at another family adopting her “zero.”

On January 11, a court sentenced Anglican convert Ismaeli Maghrebinejad to three years’ imprisonment for “insulting sacred Islamic beliefs” after he responded with a smiley emoji to a joke seen as critical of ruling clerics that had been texted to him on his cell phone. On February 27, a court sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment on a separate charge of “membership in a group hostile to the regime” (“evangelical Zionism,” according to court documents) for receiving a Bible verse sent over a cell phone app. In May, a court upheld the February verdict and added a one-year prison sentence for “propaganda against the regime.” In July, a court overturned on appeal his three-year sentence for “insulting sacred Islamic beliefs,” but upheld the other two sentences. Authorities arrested Maghrebinejad in early 2019 in Shiraz. In late 2019, authorities dropped a charge of apostasy that they brought against Maghrebinejad at the time of his arrest.

In February, authorities in Rasht arrested four Christian converts, Ramin Hassanpour, his wife Saeede (Kathrin) Sajadpour, Hadi (Moslem) Rahimi, and Sakine (Mehri) Behjati, for being members of a house church belonging to the Church of Iran. On May 14, the Revolutionary Court in Rasht initially set bail at five billion rials each ($119,000). The government transferred the four to Lakan Prison, near Rasht, when they were unable to post bail. A week later, the court reduced the bail to two billion rials each ($47,600) and released Sajadpour, Rahimi, and Behjati on May 20 and Hassanpour on May 21. On August 1, a court handed down prison sentences to the four for “acting against national security” by belonging to a house church and “spreading Zionist Christianity.” Hassanpour received a five-year sentence, Rahimi four years, and Behjati and Sajadpour two years each.

After the cancellation of several court sessions connected with appeals of their 2017 and 2018 convictions and respective 10- and five-year sentences relating to “illegal church activity,” Victor Bet Tamraz, who formerly led the country’s Assyrian Pentecostal Church, and his wife, Shamiram Isavi, learned in early August that their appeals had been denied and that authorities would schedule no further hearings. On August 11, Isavi received a summons to report to Evin Prison to begin her prison sentence. On August 15, the couple fled the country. In September, Article 18 reported that Christian converts Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, Hadi Asgari, and Amin Afshar-Naderi, who had received prison sentences in 2017 alongside Bet Tamraz, also fled the country after their appeals were rejected. In January, authorities summoned Ramiel Bet Tamraz, the son of Victor Bet Tamraz and Shamiram Isavi, to Evin Prison to serve his four-month sentence from 2018 for “propaganda against the system” through membership in a house church. Authorities released him from prison on February 26.

According to Article 18, authorities extended the two-year internal exile of Ebrahim Firouzi by 11 months. The government released Firouzi, a Christian convert, from Rajai Shahr Prison in 2019 after he served six years in prison for “collusion against national security” for converting to and practicing Christianity and related missionary activities. After he reported to the city of Sarbaz for the two years of internal exile included in his sentence, authorities extended his exile, saying that Firouzi did not have proper permission for a brief trip home to attend to some family business involving the death of his mother. After Firouzi’s exile was extended, a local prosecutor summoned him on new charges of “insulting the sacred,” which carries a maximum five-year sentence, and “propaganda against the state through promoting the Christian faith,” which may be punished with up to a year in prison. After meeting Firouzi, the prosecutor dismissed the case.

On November 18, at a virtual conference hosted by the International Organization to Preserve Human Rights regarding the “attitude of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the different religious groups,” an Article 18 representative said that 17 Christian prisoners of conscience, all converts, were incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

In April, authorities arrested Masoud Heydari and Hamid Haghjoo, the managing director and the Telegram channel administrator at the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), following the posting of a cartoon mocking COVID-19 remedies prescribed by religious leaders. ILNA officials denied publishing the cartoon and said they were falsely accused. Police released Heydari on bail while detaining Haghjoo pending an investigation into the case. There were no updates as of year’s end.

The government continued to permit Armenian Christians to have what sources stated were perhaps the greatest leeway among religious minorities in the country. It extended preservation efforts to Armenian holy sites and allowed nationals of Armenian descent and Armenian visitors to observe religious and cultural traditions within their churches and dedicated clubs.

According to the BBC Persian service, on October 29, the Qom Seminary Teachers Association labeled Grand Ayatollah Kamal Heidari a “liar,” “sinner,” and “foreign agent,” and decreed that any dealings with him would be considered a “sin.” The association excommunicated Heidari and labeled him a “seditionist” for his modernist and rationalist views.

In a January 28 report to the UN Human Rights Council, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran said he was “deeply concerned” about a bill adopted by the Committee for Judicial and Legal Affairs of parliament in 2019 on “misguided sects” that would criminalize membership in religious groups that the government considered to be “misguided.” The special rapporteur stated, “According to a member of the Committee, the bill was proposed because of concerns about sects that have no jurisprudential or religious status but attribute their belief to Islam and about the cults that have emerged recently. Members of nonrecognized religious minorities have expressed concern that passage of the bill would make it a criminal offence to follow certain religions and could be used to increase discrimination against them.”

In May, parliament passed the legislation on “misguided sects” in the form of amendments to articles 499 and 500 of the Islamic Penal Code. The legislation stated that those found guilty of “deviant psychological manipulation” or “propaganda contrary to Islam” could be labeled as members of a “sect” and punished with imprisonment, flogging, fines, or the death penalty. A human rights lawyer living in Europe stated, “The law should protect citizens, including Christian converts and Baha’is, against the government, but in Iran the law has become a tool to justify the government’s violent treatment of converts and other unrecognized minorities.” The NGO Article 18 reported that the Guardian Council, which must approve all parliamentary bills, returned the bill to parliament in July, seeking eight clarifications, the majority of which related to “ambiguous” language. An Article 18 official cautioned that the legislation would still likely to return in a “different, perhaps more minimal, form.” ARTICLE 19, another human rights NGO based in the UK, reported that in November, it was believed that parliament addressed issues raised by the Guardian Council, but the specific changes were not publicly released. The NGO said the proposed amendments, regardless of any changes, would “further erode the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief.”

According to the US Institute of Peace, the government continued to monitor statements and views of senior Shia religious leaders who did not support government policies or Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s views. According to international media, authorities continued to target Shia clerics with arrest, detention, funding cuts, loss of clerical credentials, and confiscation of property. On September 5, IranWire reported that in late 2019, authorities arrested Einollah Rezazadeh Juibari, a Shia cleric, at his home as preparations began for the 40th day commemorations of the deaths of protestors killed by government forces in the November 2019 protests. Authorities first detained Juibari, a critic of the government who was repeatedly arrested in the past, at a detention center in Urmia before taking him to a prison in Miandoab, where he undertook a 13-day hunger strike before being released. IranWire reported that Juibari, whose case remained open at year’s end, had written a letter stating that he would remove his clerical garments and clerical turban for good, because such clerical attire needed to be “excised from politics.” His letter also said that the government had “used Islamic jurisprudence as a pretext for a power grab” and that it had “sacrificed the truth and authority of the Shia faith with [its] greed.”

Critics stated the government continued to use extrajudicial special clerical courts to control non-Shia Muslim clerics as well as to prosecute Shia clerics who expressed controversial ideas and participated in activities outside the sphere of religion, such as journalism or reformist political activities.

The BBC Persian service and the Times of Israel reported authorities confirmed to local media that a California-based Zoroastrian priest, Arash Kasravi, was killed on July 25 while attending his father’s funeral in Kerman. BBC Persian reported on August 2 that the Kerman Province prosecutor told local media that the killer’s body was one of two others found with Kasravi and that he had committed suicide after the killings. The prosecutor said the judiciary believed the killings were financially motivated, since $10,000 was found in one of the victims’ vehicles. A social media post said that, following the 1979 revolution, many Zoroastrians have been targeted in these types of “mysterious homicides.”

Sources said that even when arrested, perpetrators of crimes against Baha’is faced reduced punishment if they stated that their acts were based on the religious identity of the victim.

There were continued reports of authorities placing restrictions on Baha’i businesses or forcing them to shut down after they temporarily closed in observance of Baha’i holidays, or of authorities threatening shop owners with potential closure, even though by law, businesses may close without providing a reason for up to 15 days a year. NGOs also reported the government continued to raid Baha’i homes and businesses and confiscate private and commercial property, as well as religious materials.

The government continued to hold many Baha’i properties it had seized following the 1979 revolution, including cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, and administrative centers. It also continued to prevent Baha’is from performing burials in accordance with their religious tradition. According to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), authorities routinely prevented the burial of deceased Baha’is from Tabriz at the local Vadi-i-Rahmat Cemetery. Instead, they often sent the remains for burial in Miandoab, 100 miles away, where authorities did not permit the families to wash the bodies and perform Baha’i burial rites. The IHRDC noted that Baha’i religious practice requires the deceased be buried at a location within an hour’s travel time from the place of death; however, the travel time between Tabriz and Miandoab is approximately 2.5 hours. According to the report, authorities at the cemetery, the Tabriz City Council, and the Eastern Azerbaijan provincial government said they were executing orders prohibiting the burial of Baha’is in Tabriz, but none of those offices claimed responsibility for issuing the order.

BIC reported that it learned in July that the Baha’i cemetery in Taft, Yazd Province, which the government had confiscated shortly after the 1979 revolution, was being divided and sold. According to BIC, the judiciary endorsed the confiscation of all property owned by Baha’i residents in the village of Ivel, Mazandaran Province, on the grounds that Baha’is have “a perverse ideology” and therefore have no “legitimacy in their ownership” of any property.

According to BIC, the government’s anti-Baha’i rhetoric increased markedly in recent years.

According to human rights organizations, Christian advocacy groups, and NGOs, the government continued to regulate Christian religious practices. Official reports and media continued to characterize Christian private churches in homes as “illegal networks” and “Zionist propaganda institutions.” Christian community leaders stated that when authorities learned Assyrian church leaders were baptizing new converts or preaching in Farsi, they closed the churches. NGOs report that virtually all Farsi-language churches in Iran were closed between 2009 and 2012. In 2019, Radio Farda reported, “Christians from Iran’s historic Assyrian and Armenian communities are a recognized minority who are usually able to freely practice their faith, providing they don’t open their doors to Muslim-born Iranians by holding services in Persian.” Authorities also reportedly barred unregistered or unrecognized Christians from entering church premises and closed churches that allowed the latter to enter.

Christian advocacy groups continued to state the government, through pressure and church closures, eliminated all but a handful of Farsi-language church services, thus restricting services almost entirely to the Armenian and Assyrian languages. Security officials monitored registered congregation centers to perform identity checks on worshippers to confirm non-Christians or converts did not participate in services. In response, many Christian converts reportedly practiced their religion in secret. Other unrecognized religious minorities, such as Baha’is and Yarsanis, were also forced to assemble in private homes to practice their faith in secret.

The government continued to require all women to adhere to “Islamic dress” standards in public, including covering their hair and fully covering their bodies in loose clothing – an overcoat and a hijab or, alternatively, a chador (full body length semicircle of fabric worn over both the head and clothes). Although the government at times eased enforcement of rules for such dress, it also punished “un-Islamic dress” with arrests, lashings, fines, and dismissal from employment. The government continued to crack down on public protests against the compulsory hijab and Islamic dress requirements for women.

On November 9, Branch 28 of the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by women’s right activist Saba Kord-Afshari of her 24-year prison sentence, which she received in August 2019, on a set of charges relating to her protesting the compulsory hijab. As a result, she faced a minimum of 15 years in prison, the sentence associated with the most serious charge against her, “spreading corruption.” In July, Amnesty International said authorities forced Kord-Afshari to wait a year following her 2019 arrest before allowing her to make her first hospital visit on June 29 for pre-existing gastrointestinal problems that were exacerbated in prison. Amnesty International also said the doctor failed to conduct a comprehensive examination of Kord-Afshari and referred her for future colonoscopy, endoscopy, and ultrasound procedures. VOA reported that Kord-Afshari was told that she could not have the procedures because of her late hospital arrival and her lack of funds for payment. As a result, Kord-Afshari’s health problems worsened since the government transferred her to Evin Prison in August 2019, the source added.

In December, authorities summoned Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent female human rights lawyer and 2012 winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize, back to prison one month after her release due to health complications she manifested in prison. The government arrested Sotoudeh multiple times since 2009 because of her work as a rights defender. Most recently, authorities arrested her in 2018 as a result of what Amnesty International described as her “peaceful human rights works, including her defense of women protesting against Iran’s forced-hijab laws.” A court sentenced her to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes in 2019. At year’s end, she remained confined to Qarchak Prison.

The government continued to suppress public behavior it deemed counter to Islamic law, such as dancing and men and women appearing together in public.

Authorities reportedly continued to deny the Baha’i, Sabean-Mandaean, and Yarsani religious communities, as well as other unrecognized religious minorities, access to education and government employment unless they declared themselves as belonging to one of the country’s recognized religions on their application forms.

Public and private universities continued to deny Baha’is admittance and to expel Baha’i students once their religion became known. On November 1, Iran International and HRANA reported that authorities barred from higher education at least 17 Baha’is who participated in the year’s nationwide university entrance examinations, despite their being academically qualified. As in previous years, the government organization responsible for holding university entrance exams and for placing students, the Sazeman-e Sanjesh, used pretexts such as “incomplete information” and “further investigation required” to reject Baha’i applicants. A November 2 Radio Farda report stated, “The real number of Baha’i students unable to access… degrees is likely much higher,” noting that officials rejected 70 Baha’i students in 2017. IranWire said that the banning of Baha’is from entering higher education began in 1980 and that this was the 40th consecutive year the government denied its own citizens access to higher education because of their religious beliefs.

In January, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran reported to the UN Human Rights Council that he remained “highly concerned about the denials of the right to education for religious minorities, with continuing reports of Baha’i students being rejected from entering university despite passing the required examinations.”

On September 11, Radio Farda reported that new Minister of Education Mohsen Haji Mirzaei, apparently in response to an account published two days earlier by a human rights organization, said, “It is forbidden for them [Baha’is] to study in schools.” Mirzaei was referring to the organization’s claim that authorities had ordered Saadet High School in the city of Semnan to refuse enrollment to student Borna Pirasteh in the third year of high school because of her Baha’i faith.

A Sabean-Mandaean resident of Bandar-e Mahshahr, Khuzestan Province told IranWire in October that law enforcement personnel regularly harassed his community. The man said that authorities regularly demanded bribes from Sabean-Mandaean goldsmiths. Another Sabean-Mandaean goldsmith stated that police worked with known thieves to victimize Sabean-Mandaean-owned jewelry shops.

In January, NGOs and press reported that the state-issued national identity card required for almost all government and other transactions would henceforward only allow citizens to register as belonging to one of the country’s recognized religions. According to CHRI, “anyone applying for the card who is not of the official Muslim faith or one of three religious minorities recognized in the…constitution (Christianity, Judaism or Zoroastrianism) will have to either lie and check the required box on the application for one of those religions, or not receive the card.” Previously, application forms for the ID card had an option for “other religions.” The card is used for all government services, banking activities, and the vast majority of other transactions. CHRI stated the policy “will blatantly discriminate against Baha’is as well as members of the Mandaean, Yarsani, and other unrecognized minority faiths in the country.” A report by Deutsche Welle stated that since Baha’is were forbidden by their faith to lie about their religion, they were unable to apply for new identity cards and obtain official identification.

In a July 21 report to the UN General Assembly, the special rapporteur stated that he “remains deeply concerned at the continued discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities. Changes to the national identity card application process reportedly hinder minority religious groups from gaining access to several essential services. The application form had previously listed ‘other’ as a religious option. In January, the National Organization for Civil Registration reported that this option had been removed, meaning individuals could only choose from the four officially recognized religions. The removal of ‘other’ raised fears that nonrecognized religious groups, such as Baha’is, Christian converts, Yarsanis, Sabean-Mandaeans and nonbelievers, would be unable to obtain a national identity card, which is necessary to gain access to government and banking services.”

According to a December 4 report by IranWire, the government issued a memorandum to the country’s provincial judiciary heads regarding the supervision of lawyers. Describing the expansion of a “security umbrella” over practicing attorneys, the government letter said it had established a new General Office for the Supervision of Lawyers to receive any reports of transgressions by members of the legal profession, in addition to the work already carried out by the Bar Association. Possible issues cited in the memorandum included non-observation of the mandatory hijab by female lawyers at work or on social media, or doubts about a given lawyer’s commitment to Islam, the Islamic Republic, or the principle of Supreme Leader. According to IranWire, this new office “will intimidate, silence, and push some lawyers out of the profession, while forcing others to align with the state’s principles, leading to an atrophy of justice.”

According to BIC, the government continued to ban Baha’is from participating in more than 25 types of work, many related to food industries, because the government deemed Baha’is “unclean.”

Members of the Sunni community continued to dispute statistics published in 2015 on the website of the Mosques Affairs Regulating Authority that stated there were nine Sunni mosques operating in Tehran and 15,000 across the country. Community members said the vast majority of these were simply prayer rooms or rented prayer spaces. International media and the Sunni community continued to report authorities prevented the building of any new Sunni mosques in Tehran. Sunnis said there were not enough mosques in the country to meet the needs of the population. Three news sources opposed to the government stated that Sunnis were not allowed to have a mosque in Tehran.

On May 25, the Deutsche Welle Persian service reported that Mohammad Baqer Tabatabai, an advisor to the Razavi Khorasan Guidance Office, referred to the Maki Mosque in Zahedan, the country’s largest and most culturally significant Sunni mosque, as a “house of corruption” on his Twitter account and called for its destruction. He deleted his tweet after public protest. Maki Mosque was built in 1353 in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan Province. It is religiously and culturally significant to the Sunni Baluch minority, which reportedly contributed to the upkeep of the building independently from the central government.

B ecause the government barred them from building or worshiping in their own mosques, Sunni leaders said they continued to rel y on ad hoc, underground prayer halls, or namaz khane , the same term used by Christian converts for informal chapels or prayers rooms in underground churches, to practice their religion . S ecurity officials continued to raid these unauthorized sites.

MOIS and law enforcement officials reportedly continued to harass Sufis and Sufi leaders. Media and human rights organizations reported continued censorship of the Gonabadi order’s Mazar Soltani websites, which contained speeches by the order’s leader, Noor Ali Tabandeh, and articles on mysticism.

International media and NGOs reported continued government-sponsored propaganda aimed at deterring the practice of or conversion to Christianity. According to Mohabat News, the government routinely propagated anti-Christian publications and online materials, such as the 2017 book Christian Zionism in the Geography of Christianity.

According to members of the Sabean-Mandaean and Yarsan religious communities, authorities continued to deny them permission to perform religious ceremonies in public and to deny them building permits for places of worship. A member of the Sabean-Mandaean community in Ahvaz, whom IranWire identified as “Selim,” said, “The Mandaeans of Ahvaz are not allowed to be buried in the public cemetery.” On December 31, Radio Farda reported, “destroying graves and tombstones of minorities and dissidents, including Baha’is and Yarsanis, [has] formed a part of the daily life of the supporters of the Islamic Republic.” According to the report, security forces warned Baha’is that they no longer had the right to bury their dead in many cities, including Gilavand, Tabriz, Kerman, and Ahvaz.

Yarsanis reported continued discrimination and harassment in the military and in school systems. They also continued to report the birth registration system prevented them from giving their children Yarsani names. According to a February article in U.S. Institute of Peace’s Iran Primer, “The regime has discriminated against the group by cracking down on Yarsani places of worship, religious monuments, religious speech, publications, education and communication in Kurdish. Yarsanis have also had difficulty finding employment and faced arrest and interrogation by Iranian intelligence.”

According to the Tehran Jewish Committee, five Jewish schools and two preschools continued to operate in Tehran, but authorities required their principals be Muslim. The government reportedly continued to allow Hebrew language instruction but limited the distribution of Hebrew texts, particularly nonreligious texts, making it difficult to teach the language, according to the Jewish community.

According to Christian NGOs, government restrictions on published religious material continued, including confiscations of previously available books about Christianity, although government-sanctioned translations of the Bible reportedly remained available. Government officials frequently confiscated Bibles and related non-Shia religious literature and pressured publishing houses printing unsanctioned non-Muslim religious materials to cease operations. Books about the Yarsani religion remained banned. Books published by religious minorities, regardless of topic, were required to carry labels on the cover denoting their non-Shia Muslim authorship.

Sunni leaders continued to report authorities banned Sunni religious literature and teachings from religion courses in some public schools, even in predominantly Sunni areas. Other schools, notably in the Kurdish regions, included specialized Sunni religious courses. Assyrian Christians reported the government continued to permit their community to use its own religious textbooks in schools, but only after the government authorized their content. Armenian Christians were also permitted to teach their practices to Armenian students as an elective at select schools. Unrecognized religious minorities, such as Yarsanis and Baha’is, continued to report they were unable to legally produce or distribute religious literature.

Sunnis reported continued underrepresentation in government-appointed positions in provinces where they formed a majority, such as Kurdistan and Khuzestan, as well as an inability to obtain senior government positions. Sunni activists continued to report that throughout the year, and especially during the month of Moharam, the government sent hundreds of Shia missionaries to areas with large Sunni Baluch populations to try to convert the local population.

Baluch sources reported that throughout the year, the government sent hundreds of Shia missionaries to areas with large Sunni Baluch populations to try to convert the local population.

According to media reports from 2018, the most recent reporting available, there were 13 synagogues in Tehran and approximately 35 throughout the country. Jewish community representatives said they were free to travel in and out of the country, and the government generally did not enforce a prohibition against travel to Israel by Jews, although it enforced the prohibition on such travel for other citizens.

Government officials continued to employ anti-Semitic rhetoric in official statements and to sanction it in media outlets, publications, and books. According to the Anti-Defamation League, following a March speech by the Supreme Leader on the COVID-19 pandemic, his office’s website posted remarks by a cleric who said “there is no doubt that the Jews and especially the Zionists previously have a long history of supernatural affairs and matters such as a relationship with the devil and genies.” The Anti-Defamation League report stated that most of the COVID-19 conspiracy theories spread by the government imagined the United States as leading “a biological attack, either with the help of Jewish capitalists or Israel, or to benefit Israel or at the behest of Jewish puppet masters.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, another central theme of the government’s propaganda regarding the global health crisis was the conspiracy theory that Jews are all-powerful or seek world domination.

In September, Masud Shojaei-Tabatabai, the head of a government arts agency, announced a plan to organize another exhibition of Holocaust-denial cartoons, which the government also held in 2006 and 2016. Following the beheading in France of a teacher who had shown students the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, Shojaei-Tabatabai told the Tehran Times, that “our [exhibition] program [will] publish serious artworks challenging the Holocaust; for one insulting cartoon, we will publish 10 cartoons in social media and other virtual spaces.” After French President Macron defended the slain teacher’s presentation of secularism and individual freedom, the Supreme Leader asked on Twitter, “Why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust? Why should anyone who writes about such doubts be imprisoned while insulting the Prophet (pbuh [Peace be upon him]) is allowed?”

The government continued to allow recognized minority religious groups to establish community centers and some self-financed cultural, social, athletic, and charitable associations.

On December 16, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The General Assembly passed the measure by a vote of 82 states in favor, 30 against, and 64 abstentions. The resolution, which was cosponsored by 45 member states, expressed concern about “ongoing severe limitations and increasing restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, restrictions on the establishment of places of worship, undue restrictions on burials carried out in accordance with religious tenets, attacks against places of worship and burial, and other human rights violations….” These violations included “harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention, and incitement to hatred that leads to violence against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities, including Christians, Gonabadi dervishes, Jews, Sufi Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians and members of the Baha’i faith, who have faced increasing restrictions from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on account of their faith and have been reportedly subjected to mass arrests and lengthy prison sentences.” The resolution called upon the government “to cease monitoring individuals on account of their religious identity, to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities on behalf of a recognized or unrecognized minority religious group, and to ensure that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of their choice, in accordance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ….”

Endowed religious charitable foundations, or bonyads, accounted for one-quarter to one-third of the country’s economy, according to some experts. According to NGOs, government insiders, including members of the military and clergy, ran these tax-exempt organizations, which the law defines as charities. Members of the political opposition and international corruption watchdog organizations frequently accused bonyads of corruption. Bonyads received benefits from the government, but there was no requirement for a government agency to approve their budgets publicly.

According to Radio Farda, religious leaders in Qom warned shops not to sell gifts associated with Valentine’s Day because of its roots in Christian tradition. Radio Farda stated that the country’s law enforcement agencies issue warnings to stores every year against selling such items, threatening to close the businesses from one to six months for noncompliance. The report also stated that some secular citizens have tried to promote the February 19 celebration of the day of Sepandarmaz, the goddess of fertility from the country’s pre-Islamic past. The country’s religious leaders opposed Sepandarmaz because of its roots in Zoroastrianism, which was replaced by Islam as the country’s predominant religion.

Iran (Islamic Republic of Iran) is a country in Southwest Asia, bordered by Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia to the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and Turkey and Iraq to the west. Iran occupies an important position in international energy security and world economy due to its large oil and gas reserves. This blog gives you an insight into Iranian culture and tradition.

Culture

Farsi, the official language of Iran, is historically one of the most prominent languages ​​of the Middle East and wider regions. Iranian culture is one of the oldest in the region and has influenced cultures such as Italy, Macedonia, Greece, Russia, the Arabian Peninsula and parts of Asia. Islam is practiced by the majority of Iranians and governs their personal, political, economic and legal life.

The Persian calendar is solar, but some of the official religious Islamic and Shia holidays are based on a lunar calendar. Official government working days are from Saturday to Wednesday.

family

In Iran, family matters are very important as they take their responsibilities towards their family very seriously. Women need to be protected and cared for, and it is inappropriate to ask questions about an Iranian’s wife or other female relatives. Her loyalty to the family is paramount.

Typical wedding rituals have two phases. The first stage, Aghd, represents the legal aspect of marriage in Iran, where the bride and groom sign a marriage contract, usually at the bride’s home. The second phase, Jashn-e Aroosi, is the wedding reception where feasts and celebrations are held.

art and literature

Iran has a great artistic heritage visible in architecture, painting, calligraphy and poetry. This legacy has been translated into multiple languages ​​and influenced many cultures. Contemporary literature has been influenced by classical Persian poetry, although it reflects the specifics of modern Iran. Houshang Moradi-Kermani is one of the most famous modern Iranian writers and is considered the most translated modern Iranian author.

Iranian films are celebrated and celebrated internationally. The films have won 300 international awards over the past 10 years. The most famous Persian directors are Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidi and Asghar Farhadi.

Iran has a long history of weaving fine silk and wool carpets, which is why Persian carpets are known internationally as the finest in the world. Iran produces more carpets and rugs than all other countries combined.

Iranian culture and traditions

If you are planning to do business with Iranians, here are some important rules of etiquette and customs to keep in mind.

The most common greeting is “salaam alaykum” or simply “salaam” meaning “peace”.

Performances are generally restricted to members of the same sex as men and women socialize separately.

When Iranians greet each other, they take their time and talk about general things.

Try never to be late, punctuality is appreciated.

Respect elders by greeting them first.

Iranians prefer doing business with people they know and respect, so they expect to spend time developing a personal relationship before doing business.

Iranians are conscious negotiators and can bargain hard.

Companies are hierarchical. Decisions are made at the top of the company, either by one person or by a small council.

Business attire is formal and conservative.

When presenting business cards, it’s a good idea to have one side of your card translated into Farsi and present your card with the Farsi side facing the recipient.

summary

Iranian culture and traditions are complex and have a deep history. If your global company currently operates or plans to operate in Iran, familiarity with Iranian customs is necessary for success.

The origins of Persian cuisine are complex, as is Iran’s long and turbulent past. Over 2,000 years ago, the Persian Empire stretched as far as India and since then, Iranian cuisine and culture has been influenced by various invading nations throughout history – including Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Russians and Turks.

Food is a big deal for Iranians these days. Family gatherings often involve multiple hot and cold dishes, endless amounts of berenj (rice), and plenty of encouragement to eat more.

About Persian (Farsi)

Persian language (Farsi) and literature

Persian, referred to as Farsi by its Iranian native speakers, is the official language of modern-day Iran, parts of Afghanistan and the central Asian republic of Tajikistan.

Persian is one of the most important members of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is distantly related to Latin, Greek, the Romance, Slavic and Germanic languages ​​and English. Kurdish, Baluchi, Pashto and Ossetian are the other modern Iranian languages.

The Persian of Iran is written in a cursive Arabic script that can be very decorative. In this regard, Iranians have embraced the art of calligraphy and refined writing.

The Persian spoken in Afghanistan is known as Dari. The dialectal variation between Farsi and Dari has been compared to that between European French and Canadian French.

The Persian language of Tajikistan is called Tajik. During the Soviet period, Tajik had minimal contact with other Persian-speaking countries; it contains a large number of Russian words and is written in Cyrillic (Russian) script.

Sizable minorities in other Middle Eastern countries (Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates) also speak Persian, as do large communities in Europe, Turkey, Australia, the United States and Canada.

In the past, Persian was widely spoken in an area stretching from the Middle East to Central and South Asia and as far away as Xinjiang in China. Persian is the second language of Islam and was instrumental in spreading the faith during Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent, where it was cultivated and held in high esteem until the end of Mughal rule in 1837. Persian poetry is still present as a significant part of the literature of the subcontinent. The presence of many Persian words in Urdu provides the speakers of these languages ​​with a high level of mutual intelligibility.

Turkish also contains many Persian words. Studying Ottoman Turkish literature without knowledge of Persian would be pointless.

Is it difficult to learn?

Compared to the other major Middle Eastern language and some European languages, Persian is relatively easy for English speakers to learn and is considered extremely sonorous and beautiful to hear.

Persian is remarkably simple in terms of formal grammar. There is no gender, no noun inflection, no adjective agreement, and no irregularities in verbal conjugation. However, what Persian lacks in inflection, it makes up for in syntactic and idiomatic complexity, similar to English. However, by acquiring a solid, fundamental foundation in the language, you can gradually expand and develop your knowledge of Persian and appreciate the elaborate colloquialisms revered and used by all speakers of Persian.

Persian literature

A notable feature of Persian is the small extent to which it has changed over the more than a thousand years of its existence as a literary language. For example, a modern reader should have no trouble reading and understanding the poems of Rudaki, the first major Persian poet who died in AD 940.

A striking feature of Persian literature is the importance of poetry in that language, especially in the Classic period. Western audiences are also familiar with the works of some of the more popular medieval Persian poets such as ‘Attar, Molavi (Rumi) died 1273 and Hafez died 1390. The works of these poets are considered the most perfect expressions of Persian mysticism.

Many of us start our Mondays with last weekend’s hangover or plans for the next. People who work Monday through Friday (or any other five days of the week) tend to lose strength on the third day of the week; her wishful thinking makes her dream of extra pay.

Sometimes they hit the jackpot when there is a public holiday in a week and the total number of working days is reduced to just four days.

List of countries with a four-day work week | Image from a photo agency

With the push for a four-day work week already garnering support around the world, the radical changes in office life have made the idea more viable for companies around the world. Belgium is now offering employees the opportunity to work a four-day week. In recent years, many other countries have also introduced a four-day week and have seen a noticeable increase in productivity. From the United Arab Emirates to New Zealand, here is the list of countries around the world that have switched to a 4-day working week. Just look:

1. Spain

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

According to the Guardian, last year the Spanish government announced that it would experiment with a trial four-day working week. The Spanish government agreed to a 32-hour week for three years without cutting workers’ compensation.

2. Iceland

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

From 2015 to 2019, Iceland conducted the world’s largest attempt at a shorter work week. An analysis of the results showed measurable success! Everyone was happier, healthier and more productive.

A study of 2,500 workers in Iceland, more than 1% of the workforce, was conducted to see if shorter working days lead to more productivity and a happier workforce. The trials were conducted in a range of different types of workplaces, including preschools, offices, social services and hospitals.

3. Scotland

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

Following the success of Iceland’s four-day workweek, Scotland is also joining the four-day-week countries’ club to try a new way of balancing work and private life. The country is reportedly working on ideas on how to implement this, as several people have said they would prefer a four-day week and three-day weekend.

Based on research by the think tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Scotland found that 80 per cent of people think that reducing their working hours – without a drop in pay – would have a ‘positive effect on their well-being’.

4. Ireland

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

Ireland has also launched its pilot scheme which will test the effectiveness of a four-day work week without a pay cut for workers. This program started in January 2022.

The new program will provide organizations with support, training and mentoring on how to make the four-day workweek work. The Irish Government will also fund research to assess the programme’s economic, social and environmental impacts. According to reports, 17 companies from across the country have signed up for the program.

5. New Zealand

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

Two years ago, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern suggested employers consider a four-day work week and other flexible working options. Barnes’ company Perpetual Guardian has been working four days a week since 2018. They introduced the four-day work week, where employees get the same pay for fewer days worked, after a six-week trial found productivity had improved by 20 percent.

6. Japan

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

The nation that has always talked about work efficiency and quality sighed towards the four-day work week by urging companies to adopt the pattern. In June 2021, the Japanese government launched an initiative urging companies to adopt a four-day workweek to improve the country’s work-life balance. Panasonic is the latest Japanese company to break with Japan’s workaholic culture and offer a 4-day work week.

7. United Arab Emirates

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

The UAE reduced its official working week to four and a half days in early December 2021, switching from the five-day working week. According to the reports, the new change came into effect on January 1, 2022. In this regard, the UAE Government Media Office announced that the new change aimed at improving work-life balance and productivity has been implemented.

8. Belgium

List of countries with a four-day work week | Unsplash

Belgium has joined a number of other countries in offering employees a four-day workweek as part of their labor law changes in a post-COVID era.

Announcing the reform package, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said the workforce empowerment policy would strengthen people and businesses after two difficult years with the pandemic.

What do you think? Should India switch to a four-day week?

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Tattoo artists in Iran hope their craft will be legitimized and less stigmatized in the eyes of the authorities.

Tehran, Iran – A face looking ghostly through a mirror surrounded by black. A woman with a skeletal hand sticking out of her mouth. A skull with a colorful knife inside.

These are not images you would typically find in galleries across Tehran or anywhere else in Iran.

But a group of artists have put together an exhibition of these artworks, along with others, as part of a private gallery dedicated to paintings by tattoo artists.

“First and foremost, we wanted this art exhibition to be a wake-up call for local tattoo artists to focus more on their art and remind them that a good tattoo artist must have a strong artistic background,” said Farshad Mirzaei, the main organizer of the event .

The 28-year-old, who has been a tattoo artist himself for almost 10 years, told Al Jazeera the event also aims to address the persistent perception in parts of society that people with tattoos are not normal and that tattoo artists may be worse.

“We wanted to show that tattoo artists are not criminals. They are artists, they are philanthropists and they want to advance this industry in Iran just like in other countries,” he said, noting that proceeds from the gallery will be donated to charity.

There are no specific laws regarding tattoos in Iran, so officially they are not considered criminal activities.

A number of prominent Shia marjas – Islamic sources of imitation – have said tattoos are not “haram” or forbidden under Islamic law unless they depict “obscene” images.

“Tattoos are not haram and the marks they leave under the skin do not block the flow of water, so wuzu and ghusl are correct with that,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, referring to the Islamic practice of pledges to the body before prayer to wash.

However, tattoos are generally frowned upon by officials who view them as a Western phenomenon, and images of criminals with tattoos have been broadcast numerous times by state broadcasters.

Having tattoos could also prevent people from getting or renewing their driver’s license, as body markings could be construed as a sign of mental health problems.

But despite all the restrictions and stigma, tattooing is growing in popularity in Iran, particularly among its tens of millions under the age of 30, and more artists are also taking up the ink in response to rising demand.

“A leap of faith”

Mirzaei runs FLESH, a studio in downtown Tehran, where he accepts clients and also sells – online and in person – tattoo equipment and garments with custom artwork, including calligraphic art.

He said tattoo equipment, including a variety of tattoo guns and inks, is being imported into the country as health and beauty products.

But a struggling national currency, which has depreciated significantly over the past three years due to widespread US sanctions and local mismanagement, means artists are effectively spending their money on equipment in dollars but earning their wages in riyals.

Partly because of this, Mirzaei said he still doesn’t get the full support, even from his family, despite having passionately dedicated years of his life to the craft.

“My dad still asks me sometimes, ‘Don’t you want to get a job?’ They still don’t think that tattoo art can be a job, something to devote your life to,” he said.

“So those who do take a leap of faith. But luckily we had some successful artists and we saw that it is possible to do well.”

Mirzaei said there are many talented Iranian tattoo artists who should be supported locally and given the opportunity to attend international tattoo conventions and make their mark.

This is possible within the framework and the red lines of an Islamic society.

“Why should all these talents wither away? Why shouldn’t they be seen the way they deserve to be seen?” he said.

“It could be dangerous”

In the absence of formal recognition and due to the risks involved in an activity that could be considered illegal by the authorities, some artists choose to move to other countries.

Some go to neighboring countries like Turkey, which offer a more hospitable work environment and also traditionally attract large numbers of tourists who could boost business.

20-year-old Ava Azad wants to make a career out of tattoo art. She started two years ago, first with the help of a friend and then im self-taught.

She told Al Jazeera that she plans to move to Germany soon to further her tattoo work and art studies, having initially studied acting and set design.

“There are many restrictions here. It could also be dangerous for me as a girl,” she said.

Azad said she was lucky that nothing bad happened to her, but her friends have been in dangerous situations before, so she is scared, even though her family supports her work and she accepts clients at home.

“I don’t even accept many clients for that reason. The stress really got to me,” Azad said.

“For example, some of the customers come to my house and I go down first to watch them from a distance to make sure it’s not the police or someone just pretending to be a customer.”

This fear extends to social media and all promotion of her work, as she also worries that too much might be seen to draw undue attention.

Still, she supports the gallery — where she also exhibited some of her artwork — and similar efforts that artists hope could legitimize their craft as a valid industry in Iran.

“I think that’s a really positive thing and I hope there will be more of that because in Iran we haven’t had exhibitions like this specifically for tattoo art,” she said.

Overview of Iranian culture

The culture of Iran (Persian: فرهنگ ایران‎) or culture of Persia[1][2][3] is among the most influential in the world. Iran, also known as Persia, is widely regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.[4][5][6][7] Because of its dominant geopolitical position in the world, it has greatly influenced peoples and cultures as far west as Southern Europe and Eastern Europe; Central Asia to the north; the Arabian Peninsula to the south; and South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia to the east.[4][5][8] Iranian history has had a significant impact on the world through art, architecture, poetry, science and technology, medicine, philosophy and engineering.

An eclectic cultural elasticity is considered one of the key features of Iranian identity and an indication of its historical longevity.[9] Richard N. Frye, a well-known Iranian scholar, emphasizes the historical influence of Iranian culture at a high level in his 2005 book Greater Iran: A 20th-century Odyssey:

“Iran’s glory has always been its culture.”[10]

In addition, Iranian culture has manifested itself in multiple facets in the history of the Iranian Plateau, as well as the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Anatolia and Mesopotamia.

art [edit]

Iran has one of the oldest, richest and most influential artistic heritages in the world, spanning many disciplines including literature, music, dance, architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and stonemasonry.

Intricate stone art from Persepolis

Iranian art has gone through numerous phases, which is evident in Iran’s unique aesthetic. From the Elamite Chogha Zanbil to the Median and Achaemenid reliefs of Persepolis to the mosaics of Bishapur.

The Islamic Golden Age brought drastic changes in the style and practice of the arts. However, each Iranian dynasty had its own particular emphases, building on the previous dynasties, all of which in their time had great influence in shaping world cultures of the time and today.

Edit language]

Several languages ​​are spoken throughout Iran. Languages ​​from the Iranian, Turkic and Semitic language families are spoken throughout Iran. According to the CIA Factbook, 78% of Iranians speak an Iranian language as their mother tongue, 18% speak a Turkish language as their mother tongue, and 2% speak a Semitic language as their mother tongue, while the remaining 2% speak different language groups.[11] Although Azerbaijanis speak a Turkic language, they are often associated with the Iranian peoples due to their culture, history and genetics.

The predominant language and national language of Iran is Persian, which is fluently spoken throughout the country. Azerbaijani is mainly and widely spoken in the north-west, Kurdish and Luri are mainly spoken in the west, Mazandarani and Gilaki are spoken in the regions along the Caspian Sea, Arabic mainly in the coastal regions of the Persian Gulf, Balochi mainly in the south-east and Turkmen mainly in the northern border regions. Minor languages ​​spoken in other regions include Talysh, Georgian, Armenian, Assyrian, and Circassian, among others.

Ethnologue estimates that there are 86 Iranian languages, the largest among them being Persian, Pashto and the Kurdish dialect continuum, with an estimated 150-200 million native speakers of Iranian languages ​​worldwide.[12][13][14] Dialects of Persian are spoken sporadically throughout the region from China to Syria to Russia, but mainly on the Iranian Plateau.

literature [edit]

The literature of Iran is one of the oldest and most celebrated literatures in the world, spanning over 2500 years from the many Achaemenid inscriptions, such as the Behistun inscription, to the famous Iranian poets of the Islamic Golden Age and modern Iran ][17 ] Iranian literature has been described as one of the great literatures of mankind and one of the four main bodies of world literature.[18][19] The distinguished professor LP Elwell-Sutton has described the literature of the Persian language as “one of the richest poetic literatures in the world”.[20]

Very few literary works of pre-Islamic Iran survive, partly due to the destruction of the libraries of Persepolis by Alexander of Macedon during the Achaemenid era and the subsequent invasion of Iran by the Arabs in 641, who attempted to destroy all non-Islamic Qur’anic texts .[21] This resulted in all Iranian libraries being destroyed, books being either burned or thrown into rivers. The only way Iranians could protect these books was to bury them, but many of the texts have been forgotten over time.[21] As soon as circumstances permitted, the Iranians wrote books and compiled libraries.[21]

Iranian literature includes a variety of literature in the languages ​​used in Iran. Modern Iranian literature includes Persian literature, Azerbaijani literature, Kurdish literature and the literature of the remaining minority languages. Persian is the dominant and official language of Iran and throughout Iran’s history it has been the nation’s most influential literary language. The Persian language has often been cited as the world’s most worthy language to serve as a conduit for poetry.[22] Azerbaijani literature also had a profound influence on Iranian literature as it became highly developed after Iran’s first reunification in 800 years under the Safavid Empire, whose rulers wrote poetry themselves.[23] There are still some literary works of the extinct Iranian language Altaseri, which was used in Azerbaijan before the linguistic Turkification of the people of the region.[24] Kurdish literature also had a profound impact on the literature of Iran as it incorporated the various Kurdish dialects spoken throughout the Middle East. The earliest works of Kurdish literature are those of the 16th-century poet Malaye Jaziri.[25]

Some notable figures in Iranian poetry who have had great global influence are Ferdowsi, Sa’di, Hafiz, Attar, Nezami, Rumi and Omar Khayyam.[26][27] These poets inspired Goethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and many others.

Contemporary Iranian literature has been influenced by classical Persian poetry, but also reflects the peculiarities of modern Iran, through writers such as Houshang Moradi-Kermani, the most translated modern Iranian author, and the poet Ahmad Shamlou.[28]

music [edit]

Iranian music has directly influenced the cultures of West Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and South Asia.[29] Mainly influencing and building much of the musical terminology of neighboring Turkic and Arabic cultures, it reached India through the 16th-century Persian Mughal Empire, whose court encouraged new forms of music by bringing Iranian musicians with them.

Iran is the origin of complex instruments, with instruments dating back to the third millennium BC.[30] A few silver, gold and copper trumpets have been found in eastern Iran, attributed to the Oxus civilization and dated between 2200 and 1750 BC. The use of both vertical and horizontal angle harps has been documented at the archaeological sites of Madaktu (650 BC) and Kul-e Fara (900–600 BC), with the largest collection of Elamite instruments documented at Kul-e Fara is. Several depictions of horizontal harps were also carved in Assyrian palaces, built between 865 and 650 BC. going back.[30]

The reign of the Sasanian ruler Khosrow II is considered the “golden age” for Iranian music. Sasanian music is where many of the world’s many musical cultures trace their distant origins. Khosrow II’s court was home to a number of prominent musicians including Azad, Bamshad, Barbad, Nagisa, Ramtin and Sarkash. Under these attested names, Barbad is mentioned in many documents and is said to be remarkably highly qualified. He was a poet-musician who developed modal music, possibly inventing the lute and the musical tradition that would morph into the forms of dastgah and maqam.[30][31][32] He is credited with organizing a musical system consisting of seven “royal modes” (xosrovāni), 30 derived modes (navā), and 360 melodies (dāstān).

The academic classical music of Iran, in addition to preserving melodic types often attributed to Sassanid musicians, is based on the theories of tonal aesthetics as expounded by the likes of Iranian music theorists in the early centuries following the Muslim conquest of the Sassanid Empire, most notably Avicenna , Farabi, Qotb-ed-Din Shirazi, and Safi-ed-Din Urmawi.[29]

dance [edit]

Iran has a rich and ancient dance culture dating back to the 6th millennium BC. BC is enough. Dances from ancient artifacts unearthed in Iran’s archaeological prehistoric sites represent a vibrant culture that mixes different dance forms for all occasions. Associated with music, the artifacts depicted actors, dancers, and ordinary people dancing in plays, drama, celebrations, mourning, and religious rituals with equipment such as animal or plant costumes, masks, and surrounding objects. Over time, this dance culture began to evolve and flourish.[33]

Iran is a multi-ethnic country. Although the cultures of the ethnic groups are very similar and almost identical in most areas, each has its own distinctive and specific dance style. Iran has four dance categories: group dances, solo improvisational dances, war or combat dances, and spiritual dances.

Typically, the group dances are often unique and named after the region or ethnic groups with which they are associated. These dances can be chain dances involving a group, or the more common group dances performed primarily on celebratory occasions such as weddings and Noruz celebrations, which focus less on shared line or circle dances and more on solo forms of improvisation, with each Dancer interprets the music for herself in a particular way, but within a certain range of dance vocabulary that sometimes blends other dance styles or elements.[34]

Solo dances are usually reconstructions of the historical and courtly dances of the various Iranian dynasties throughout history, with the most common types being those of the Safavid and Qajar dynasties as they are relatively recent. These are often improvisational dances and use delicate, graceful movements of the hands and arms, such as B. Wrist circles.[34]

War or battle dances, mimic combat or help train the warrior. It could be argued that men from the zurkhaneh (‘house of strength’) and their ritualized wrestling training moves are known as a type of dance called ‘raghs-e-pa’, with the dances and acts performed in the zurkhaneh as well similar to martial arts.[34][35]

Spiritual dances in Iran are known as “Sama”. There are different types of these spiritual dances used for spiritual purposes such as: B. to rid the body of evil omens and evil spirits. These dances involve trance, music and complex movements. An example of such a dance is the “le’b gowati” called by the Baluchi, performed to rid a supposedly possessed person of the possessed spirit. In the Balochi language, the term “Gowati” refers to mentally ill patients who have recovered through music and dance.[36][37]

The earliest researched dances from Iran is a dance worshiping Mithra, the Zoroastrian angelic deity of covenant, light and oath, commonly used by the Roman Mithraic cult.[38] One of the cult’s ceremonies involved the sacrifice of a bull, followed by a dance that promoted life force.[38] The Mithraic cult was active from the 1st century AD to the 4th century AD, worshiping a mysterious religion inspired by the Iranian worship of Mithra. It was a rival of Christianity in the Roman Empire and was eventually suppressed by the Roman authorities in favor of Christianity in the 4th century AD.[39][40][41] This was done to counteract the greater Iranian cultural influence that was spreading throughout the Roman Empire.[40] The cult was very popular and respected throughout the Roman Empire, centered in Rome, and was popular throughout the western half of the empire, as far south as Roman Africa and Numidia, as far north as Roman Britain, and to a lesser extent in Romanesque Syria in the east.[42][43]

Architecture[ edit ]

The history of Iranian architecture dates back to at least 5,000 BC. BC, with distinctive examples distributed over a wide area from Turkey and Iraq through Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the South Caucasus and Zanzibar. There are currently 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites designed and built by Iranians, 11 of which are outside of Iran. Iranian architecture exhibits a wide variety of structure and aesthetics, and despite repeated trauma from destructive invasions and cultural shocks, Iranian fervor and identity has always triumphed and flourished. In turn, it greatly influenced the architecture of its invaders from the Greeks to the Arabs to the Turks.

The traditional theme of Iranian architecture is cosmic symbolism, representing man’s communication and participation with the forces of heaven. This theme has not only provided continuity and longevity to Iran’s architecture, but has also been a major source of the nation’s emotional character. Iranian architecture ranges from simple structures to “some of the most majestic structures the world has ever seen.”[45][46]

Iranian architectural style is the combination of intensity and simplicity to shape immediacy, while ornament and often subtle proportions reward sustained observation. Iranian architecture makes extensive use of symbolic geometry, using pure forms such as circle and square, and plans are often based on symmetrical floor plans with rectangular courtyards and halls. The main virtues of Iranian architecture are: “a keen sense of form and scale; structural ingenuity, particularly in vaulting and domed construction; a genius for decoration, with a freedom and success not found in any other architecture”.[47 ]

The traditional architecture of Iran is divided into two families and six following classes or styles over the centuries. The two categories are Zoroastrian and Islamic, referring to the eras of pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Iran, and the six styles are, in order of their era: Parsi, Parthian Khorasani, Razi, Azari, Esfahani. The pre-Islamic styles draw on 3000 to 4000 years of architectural development from the various civilizations of the Iranian Plateau. The post-Islamic architecture of Iran, in turn, draws ideas from its pre-Islamic predecessor and features geometric and repetitive forms and surfaces richly decorated with glazed tiles, carved stucco, patterned brickwork, floral motifs and calligraphy. [48]

Besides historical gates, palaces, bridges, buildings and religious sites that underline the highly developed supremacy of Iranian architectural art, Iranian gardens are also an example of comic symbolism and Iran’s unique style of combining intensity and simplicity for an immediate form. 44][46] There are currently 14 Iranian gardens listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 5 of which are located outside of Iran.[49] The traditional style of Iranian gardens is said to represent an earthly paradise or heaven on earth. From the time of the Achaemenid Empire, the idea of ​​an earthly paradise spread to other cultures through Iranian literature, with the word for paradise in the Iranian languages ​​of Avestan, Old Persian, and Median spreading to languages ​​around the world.[50] The style and design of the Iranian garden greatly influenced the garden styles of countries from Spain to Italy and Greece to India, with some notable examples of such gardens being the Gardens of the Alhambra in Spain, Humayun’s Tomb and the Taj Mahal in India, which are Hellenistic Gardens of the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemies in Alexandria.[50]

Religion in Iran[edit]

Zoroastrianism was Iran’s national faith more than a millennium before the Arab conquest. It had an immense impact on Iranian philosophy, culture and art after the Iranian people converted to Islam.[51] The Persian Samanid dynasty made major attempts in the 9th and 10th centuries to spread the Islamic faith while promoting a Persian cultural revival. By the 16th century, Iran was majority Sunni and ushered in a golden age of arts and sciences.[51] In 1501, the Safavid dynasty took control of Iran and made Shia Islam the state religion, which was one of the most important events in Islamic history.[51]

Today, of the 98% of Muslims living in Iran, about 89% are Shia and only about 9% are Sunni. This is quite an opposite trend to the percentage distribution of Shi’a to Sunni Islam adherents in the rest of the Muslim population from state to state (mainly in the Middle East) and in the rest of the world.

Followers of the Bahá’í Faith form the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran. Baháʼís are scattered across small communities in Iran, although there appears to be a large population of Baháʼís in Tehran. The Iranian government actively pursues the persecution of Bahá’ís.

Adherents to the Christian faith are about 250,000 Armenians, about 32,000 Assyrians and a small number of Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant Iranians who were converted by missionaries in earlier centuries. Therefore, the Christians living in Iran are primarily descendants of indigenous Christians who were converted in the 19th and 20th centuries. Judaism is an officially recognized religion in Iran, and despite hostilities between Iran and Israel over the Palestinian issue, Iran’s millennia-old Jewish community enjoys the right to practice their religion freely, as well as a dedicated seat in parliament for representatives of their faith. Along with Christianity and Judaism, Zoroastrianism is another officially recognized religion in Iran, although followers of this faith do not have a large population in Iran. Although there have been isolated instances of prejudice against Zoroastrians, most followers of this faith have not been persecuted for being followers of this faith.[52]

Public holidays in Iran[edit]

The Persian year begins with the vernal equinox: If the astronomical vernal equinox is before noon, then today is the first day of the Persian year. If the equinox falls after noon, then the next day is the official first day of the Persian year. The Persian calendar, the official calendar of Iran, is a solar calendar whose starting point is the same as the Islamic calendar. According to the Iranian Labor Code, Friday is the weekly rest day. The government’s official working hours are Saturday to Wednesday (from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.).[53]

Although the date of certain public holidays in Iran is not precise (due to the calendar system used, most of these public holidays fall around the same time), some of the most important public holidays in Iran belong to the Nationalization Day of Oil (March 20). Yalda (the longest night of the year) (December 21), Nowrooz – the Iranian equivalent of New Year (March 20), the birthday of the Prophet and Imam Sadeq (June 4). Other public holidays include the anniversary of the uprising against the Shah (January 30), Ashoura (February 11), Victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution (January 20), Sizdah-Bedar – Public Excursion Day marking the end of Nowrooz (April 1). ) and Islam Republic Day (2 April).

Wedding ceremonies[edit]

A typical wedding ritual in Iran consists of two phases. As a rule, both phases take place in one day. The first stage is known as “Aghd” which is basically the legal part of marriage in Iran. The bridal couple and the respective legal guardians sign a marriage contract. This phase usually takes place in the bride’s house. After this legal process is completed, the second phase “Jashn-e Aroosi” takes place. This step, which is basically the wedding reception where the actual feasts and celebrations are held, usually takes around 3-7 days. The ceremony takes place in a decorated room with flowers and a beautifully decorated ceiling on the floor. This spread is typically passed from mother to daughter and is made of very beautiful fabrics such as “Termeh” (cashmere), “Atlas” (gold-embroidered satin) or “Abrisham” (silk).

Iranian Wedding Ceremony

Objects are placed on this double page: a mirror (of destiny), two candelabra (representing the bride and groom and their bright future), a tray with seven multicolored herbs and spices (including poppy seeds, wild rice, angelica, salt, nigella seeds, black tea and incense). These herbs and spices play specific roles ranging from breaking spells and witchcraft to blinding the evil eye and burning evil spirits. In addition to these herbs/spices, a specially baked and decorated flatbread, a basket of decorated eggs, decorated almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts (in their shell as a symbol of fertility), a basket of pomegranates/apples (for a brighter future than these fruits are considered divine), a cup of rose water (made from special Persian roses) – which helps to perfume the air, a bowl of sugar (apparently to sweeten life for the newlywed couple) and a brazier containing burning coals and sprinkled with wild rhombus (to ward off the evil eye and purify the wedding ritual) are also placed on top of the spread. Finally, there are other items that need to be placed on top of the spread including a bowl of gold coins (to represent wealth and prosperity), a silk/fine fabric shawl/shawl (which is sure to be held over the bride and groom’s heads must become). points in the ceremony), two candy cones – to be dragged over the bride and groom’s heads to symbolize sweetness/happiness, a cup of honey (to sweeten life), a needle and seven colored threads (the cloth that is held). ). tied over the head of the bride and groom throughout the ceremony) and a copy of the couple’s Holy Book (different religions require different texts); but all of these books symbolize God’s blessings on the couple.[54] An early age at marriage – especially for brides – is a long-documented feature of marriage in Iran. While the people of Iran have tried to legally change this practice by enacting a higher marriage minimum, there have been countless obstacles to such an attempt. Although the average age at which women marry has increased by about five years in recent decades, marrying young girls is still a common feature of marriage in Iran – although there is an article in Iran’s civil code that prohibits women under the age of 15 from marrying and men under the age of 18.[55]

Persian carpets[ edit ]

In Iran, Persian carpets have always been an important part of Persian culture.

Antique Persian Mashad carpet

Iranians were among the first people in history to weave carpets. Originally derived from basic need, the Persian rug began as a simple/sheer fabric that helped the nomads living in ancient Iran to keep warm from the cold, damp ground. Over time, rugs increased in complexity and beauty to the point where rugs are now purchased as decorative pieces.[56] Due to Iran’s long history of weaving fine silk and wool rugs, Persian rugs are world-renowned as some of the finest, most intricately designed rugs in existence. In various places in Iran, carpets seem to be among the most prized possessions of local people. Iran currently produces more carpets and rugs than all other countries in the world combined.[57]

Modern culture[ edit ]

cinema [edit]

With 300 international awards in the last 10 years, Iranian films continue to be celebrated worldwide. The most famous Persian directors are Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidi, Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi.

Contemporary art[ edit ]

Interest in Iranian contemporary artists and in artists from the larger Iranian diaspora is resurgent. Important personalities are Shirin Aliabadi, Mohammed Ehsai, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Golnaz Fathi, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Parastou Forouhar, Pouran Jinchi, Farhad Moshiri, Shirin Neshat, Parviz Tanavoli, Y.Z. Kami and Charles Hossein Zenderoudi.[58]

music [edit]

Architecture[ edit ]

Sasanian Fortress in Derbent, Dagestan. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List of Russia since 2003.

Kitchen [ edit ]

The cuisine of Iran is considered to be one of the oldest forms of cuisine anywhere in the world. Bread is arguably the most important food item in Iran, with a wide range of different types of bread, some of the most popular being nan and hamir, which are baked in large clay ovens (also called ‘tenurs’). In Iranian cuisine, there are many dishes that are made from dairy products. One of the most popular of these is yogurt (“mast”), which has a special fermentation process that is common among most Iranians. In addition, fattening is used to make soups and is essential for extracting oil. In addition to these dairy products, Iranian cuisine includes many dishes made from rice. Some popular rice dishes are boiled rice with a variety of ingredients such as meat, vegetables, and spices (“plov”), including dishes such as chelo horesh, shish kebab with rice, chelo kebab, rice with lamb, meatballs with rice, and kofte (simpler boiled Rice). In addition, Iranian cuisine is famous for its sweets. One of the most famous of these is “baklava” made with almonds, cardamom, and egg yolk. Iranian sweets typically involve the use of honey, cinnamon, lime juice, and sprouted wheat grain. A very popular dessert drink in Iran, “Sorbet Sharbat-Portagal” is made from a mixture of orange peel and orange juice, boiled in thin sugar syrup and diluted with rose water. Just like the people of many Middle Eastern countries, the most preferred drink of the people of Iran is tea (without milk) or “Kakhve-Khana”.[59]

sports [edit]

The game of polo originated in ancient times among Iranian tribes and was regularly seen across the country until the 1979 revolution, when it became associated with the monarchy. It continues to be played, but only in rural areas and discreetly. Recently, since 2005, she has been gaining more and more profile. A high profile tournament was held in March 2006 and all major matches are now televised.

Iranian Zoor Khaneh

Women in Persian culture[edit]

Since the 1979 revolution, Iranian women have had more opportunities in some areas and more limitations in others. One of the most striking features of the revolution was the large-scale participation of women from traditional backgrounds in demonstrations that led to the overthrow of the monarchy. Iranian women, who had gained confidence and higher education during the Pahlavi era, took part in demonstrations against the Shah to overthrow the monarchy. The educational culture for women was established at the time of the revolution, so even after the revolution large numbers of women entered the civil service and higher education,[60] and in 1996 fourteen women were elected to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In 2003, the first Iranian judge during the Pahlavi era, Shirin Ebadi, received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote human rights.

According to a UNESCO World Survey, Iran has the highest female to male ratio at the primary school level among sovereign nations in the world, with a female to male ratio of 1.22:1.00.[61] By 1999, Iran had 140 women publishers, enough to host an exhibition of books and magazines edited by women.[62] In 2005, 65% of Iranian university students and 43% of employees were women.[63] und seit Anfang 2007 sind fast 70 % der iranischen Studenten der Wissenschaften und Ingenieurwissenschaften Frauen.[64] Dies hat dazu geführt, dass viele Schul- und Hochschulabsolventinnen nicht ausgelastet sind. Dies wirkt sich allmählich auf die iranische Gesellschaft aus und trug zu den Protesten der iranischen Jugend bei.

In den letzten Jahrzehnten hatten iranische Frauen eine bedeutende Präsenz in der wissenschaftlichen Bewegung, der Kunstbewegung, der literarischen New Wave und dem zeitgenössischen iranischen Kino. 60 % aller Studierenden in den Naturwissenschaften sind Frauen, darunter jeder fünfte Doktorand.[65]

Traditionelle Feiertage/Feierlichkeiten [ bearbeiten ]

Iraner feiern die folgenden Tage nach einem Sonnenkalender, zusätzlich zu wichtigen religiösen Tagen des islamischen und schiitischen Kalenders, die auf einem Mondkalender basieren.

Traditionelle kulturelle Erben des alten Persiens

Wie der persische Teppich, der zahlreiche Farben und Formen in einer schillernden Darstellung von Wärme und Kreativität zeigt, ist die persische Kultur der Kitt, der die Völker West- und Zentralasiens verbindet. Der Südkaukasus und Zentralasien “nehmen einen wichtigen Platz in der historischen Geographie der persischen Zivilisation ein”. Ein Großteil der Region gehörte zu den vorislamischen persischen Reichen, und viele ihrer alten Völker gehörten entweder zum iranischen Zweig der indogermanischen Völker (z. B. Meder und Soghdianer) oder standen in engem kulturellen Kontakt mit ihnen (z. B. die Armenier).[66] Mit den Worten des Iranologen Richard Nelson Frye:

Ich habe oft betont, dass die heutigen Völker Zentralasiens, ob iranisch oder türkisch sprechend, eine Kultur, eine Religion, eine Reihe sozialer Werte und Traditionen haben, die nur durch die Sprache getrennt sind.

Die Kultur Persiens hat sich also über mehrere tausend Jahre entwickelt. Aber historisch gesehen sind die Völker des heutigen Iran, Armeniens, Aserbaidschans, der Türkei, Usbekistans, Tadschikistans, Turkmenistans,[67][68] Ostgeorgiens und Afghanistans als Teil der größeren Gruppe von Völkern des Größeren miteinander verwandt Iranische kulturelle und historische Sphäre. Auch der Nordkaukasus liegt weit im Einflussbereich der persischen Kultur, wie die vielen Relikte, Ruinen und literarischen Werke aus dieser Region zeigen (z. B. 1) (z. B. 2)

Beiträge zur Menschheit in der antiken Geschichte [Bearbeiten]

Figur mit Saiteninstrument (frühe Tanbur oder Laute). Erste Hälfte des zweiten Jahrtausends v. Susa. Wird im Nationalmuseum des Iran aufbewahrt.

Vom bescheidenen Backstein bis zur Windmühle haben die Perser Kreativität mit Kunst vermischt und der Welt zahlreiche Beiträge geleistet.[69][70] Was folgt, ist eine Liste mit nur einigen Beispielen für die kulturellen Beiträge des Großiran.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

Videos

All calendars of Iran

This is not surprising if you are wondering why there are many public holidays in Iran and what Iranians do on all these public holidays.

In Iran we use three calendars for our various purposes: The official one is our ancient and solar Iranian calendar. In addition, as we live in an Islamic country, there is a semi-official calendar based on our religious chronological calendar. it’s moon Many religious ceremonies and festivals, which are also public holidays in Iran, are held according to this calendar. The third calendar is Gregorian. As it is not an official one, we do not take advantage of major international holidays such as Christmas. However, some people celebrate famous Christian or Western events themselves.

Using these two official references as Iranian calendars means commemorating many days based on Iranian traditions and religious events. So we have 26 Iran holidays. Now you can see why there are many public holidays in Iran. However, many Iranian holidays do not affect your travel or the mood of the cities that much. But in this article, we will discuss the public holidays in Iran that will affect your travel.

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The main holidays in Iran

The holidays in Iran are both national and religious events. Some of them are also important big Iran festivals. Among the Iranian national holidays, the New Year holiday is the highlight of our holiday. It’s about two weeks free!

Festivals in Iran On this page we have given you a comprehensive description of some of the most important festivals in Iran. Click here

Also, we have the Muharram Festival. It’s actually two days out of all 26 public holidays in Iran, but the festival and associated ceremonies last around ten days.

Traditional holidays according to the Iranian calendar

The burning piles of wood lie everywhere on the streets in the last days of winter. However, it shouldn’t worry you. There is no street fight or military coup.

Every year we look forward to celebrating the Iranian New Year in these days. Last Wednesday evening we prepare to welcome the coming year and spring by lighting fires. This is our ancient festival, Chaharshanbe Suri. Then the longest Iran vacation begins on the last day of winter and lasts 14 days.

The Iranian New Year holiday is in spring. It is the best season to visit Iran. Because here you can see all the beauties of spring.

Nowruz Holidays

Spring in Iran begins on March 21st. It is also the first day of the Iranian New Year and the longest public holiday in Iran. At this time, many Iranians set off to spend their New Year in different regions. At this time, Iran has been preparing everywhere to welcome visitors from all over the world.

If you travel to Iran during this popular holiday of Iranians, you can see our ancient cultural celebrations. With a variety of domestic tours, explore Iran alongside many people here and there.

If you want to get acquainted with Nowruz traditions, you can book customized Nowruz tours from different Iran tour packages. That can take you deep into the cultural rituals of Iran on this occasion.

However, if you prefer to be in a quieter atmosphere, you can arrange your trip for early April after the Nowruz holiday ends. The weather is getting warmer; The lands are greener and the orchards are full of colourful, fresh blossoms.

It depends on you and what kind of vibes and moments you associate during your trip to Iran. If you want to experience more interactions with locals while trekking through the beautiful nature of Iran in spring, Iranian holidays is the right time for you to take a trip to this country. However, if crowds aren’t your thing, or you have other plans for your spring break, fall is always a good option too. Plenty of colors color Iran in autumn, and the cities are less crowded.

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Religious holidays and festivals

Religious ceremonies and festivals have an important place in Iran. Many Iranians perform their rituals on these festive holidays. Depending on whether it is a celebration or a mourning occasion, there are different styles of ceremonies throughout Iran. These holidays in Iran are based on the religious lunar calendar. So you should check your travel times to see if they coincide with any of these ceremonies.

Two examples of this type of holiday in Iran are the Muharram festivals and the ceremonies of the month of Ramadan. During the Muharram festival, Iranians commemorate the tragic loss of their religious symbol of justice and righteousness. And in Ramadan, they fast for a whole month, which helps them maintain their physical and mental health. It also creates a sense of compassion for less privileged people who are unable to support themselves every day.

Read more: Religions in Iran

Travel during Ramadan

Life in the holy month of Ramadan in Iran begins at night. It would be quite an experience for a non-Muslim visitor to visit Iran during Ramadan. You might not be able to eat as many traditional dishes during the day, but the nightlife is livelier than any other month. Although you may have to endure the hardship of not eating in public during the long days of May, you’ll see Iran in spring, which is a great time to travel to all different regions. There are also some exceptions for travelers, which you can find out about on our website.

Traveling during the Muharram Festival

If you visit Iran during Muharram festival, you will see unique ceremonies of religious rituals in different regions.

Since it is the lunar calendar, there is no fixed date regarding the Gregorian calendar. The Muharram Festival will be held at the end of August in 2020. It’s the last month of summer in Iran. If you are touring Iran these days, you will have both worlds. Visit the main tour route of Iran and see the unique Muharram Festival. Many visitors were amazed at the large and harmonious crowd of mourners performing their rituals.

If you are not interested in crowded places or cultural events, you can postpone your trip for a month. It’s the beginning of autumn when the weather is cooler and as pleasant as spring.

Iranian holidays 2020

Jan 06: Funeral of General Qasem Soleimani

January 29: Martyrdom of Lady Fatimah

February 11: Islamic Revolution Day

March 08: Birthday of Imam Ali

March 19: Oil Nationalization Day

March 20: Nowruz

March 21: Nowruz holiday

March 22: Nowruz holiday

March 22: The Ascension of Prophet Muhammad

March 23: Nowruz holiday

March 31: Islamic Republic Day

April 1st: Nature Day

April 9th: Birthday of Imam Mahdi

May 14: Martyrdom of Imam Ali

May 24: Eid e-Fitr

May 25: The day after Eid-e-Fitr

Jun 03: Imam Khomeini passed away

June 4: National Uprising of Khordad

June 17: Martyrdom of Imam Sadeq

July 31: Eid al-Adha

08 August: Eid-e-Ghadir

August 28: Tasoua Hosseini

August 29 Ashoura

10/08: Arbaeen

Oct. 16: Death of Prophet Muhammad/ Martyrdom of Imam Hassan

17 Oct: Martyrdom of Imam Reza

26 Oct: Martyrdom of Imam Hassan Askari

Oct. 29: Birthday of Prophet Muhammad and Imam Sadeq

The best of Iran

You are welcome in Iran at any time of the year and for any occasion. All the things we have said about Iran holidays and Iranian traditions are just some pointers to help you organize a better and more convenient plan for your trip so that you can make the most of your time in Iran .

At the end, if you have any questions about Iranian holidays, please feel free to contact us and we will put an end to these question marks at IranAmaze Iran Travel Agency.

Holidays in Iran

Discover the upcoming holidays in Iran and start planning to make the most of your free time.

Iran recognizes 26 national holidays per year. The majority of national holidays are based on centuries-old Islamic religious culture as well as political milestones commemorating a long struggle for political freedom and equality.

Most employers allow paid time off on religious holidays. In addition to national holidays, Labor Day is considered an official holiday for all workers, regardless of the type of employment.

In recent years

Iran uses three official calendar systems, including the solar Hijri calendar as the main and national calendar, the Gregorian calendar for international events and Christian holidays, and the lunar Hijri calendar for Islamic holidays.

Holiday crowds have been an issue for nearly 30 years. In addition to the national holidays, numerous unofficial holidays are added each year, which further aggravate the situation.[1]

Iran has the most public holidays in the world with around 25 public holidays. The public holidays in Iran may differ with regard to the Arabic calendar.[1][2]

See also[edit]