Freedom of Religion in Iran

Freedom of religion in Iran is a debated subject. Iran is an Islamic republic —the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran mandates that the official religion of Iran is Islam (see Islam in Iran) and the Twelver Ja'fari school, and also mandates that other Islamic schools are to be accorded full respect, and their followers are free to act in accordance with their own jurisprudence in performing their religious rites. Iran recognizes Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Irmic religious minority, and other religious minorities. Apostasy by a Muslim is punishable by death, although the definition of an apostate in Islam (and in Iran) is a Muslim who leaves Islam and actively makes a mockery of it. There have been cases of imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and discrimination based on religious beliefs.

The continuous presence of the country's pre-Islamic, non-Muslim communities, such as Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians, had accustomed the population to the participation of non-Muslims in society; however, government actions continue to create a threatening atmosphere for some religious minorities.

Read more about Freedom Of Religion In Iran:  Religious Demography, Status of Religious Freedom, Restrictions On Religious Freedom, Societal Attitudes, Views of The US Government

Famous quotes containing the words freedom of, freedom, religion and/or iran:

    To motorists bound to or from the Jersey shore, Perth Amboy consists of five traffic lights that sometimes tie up week-end traffic for miles. While cars creep along or come to a prolonged halt, drivers lean out to discuss with each other this red menace to freedom of the road.
    —For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has determined the very existence of politics, the cause of freedom versus tyranny.
    Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)

    The great word Evolution had not yet, in 1860, made a new religion of history, but the old religion had preached the same doctrine for a thousand years without finding in the entire history of Rome anything but flat contradiction.
    Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)

    During my administration the most unpleasant and perhaps most dramatic negotiations in which we participated were with the various leaders of Iran after the seizure of American hostages in November 1979. The Algerians were finally chosen as the only intermediaries who were considered trustworthy both by me and the Ayatollah Khomeini. After many aborted efforts, final success was achieved during my last few hours in the White House.
    Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)