Iran

 

This week’s country is Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran it was once known as Persia, particularly in the Western world; however, the official name of the country is now Iran and the government requests that people use this term instead of Persia when referring to it formally. 

It was in 1935, that the Iranian government under Reza Shah Pahlavi officially requested that the country be referred to as "Iran" instead of "Persia". 

The country has a population of 89 million with 15,800,000 living in the capital.

The capital of Iran is Tehran, in the north of the country. Its central Golestan Palace complex, with its ornate rooms and marble throne, was the seat of power of the Qajar dynasty. The National Jewellery Museum holds many of the Qajar monarchs’ jewels, while the National Museum of Iran has artifacts dating back to Paleolithic times. The Milad Tower offers panoramic views over the city.

The official currency is either the rial or the toman when I looked it up I got rial but then I discovered that due to the rial's low value, the Iranian parliament voted to gradually remonetize the nation's currency from the rial to the toman between 2020 and 2022, with an exchange rate of 1 toman = 10,000 rials.  

Their flag is a horizontal tricolour of green, white, and red. The flag also has the national emblem in red and the word "Allahu Akbar" written in white. It was adopted in 1980 after the Iranian Revolution.

The colours and symbols have specific meanings: 

• Green: Represents Islam, growth, happiness, unity, nature, and Iranian languages 
• White: Represents freedom 
• Red: Represents martyrdom, bravery, fire, love, and warmth 
• "Allahu Akbar": An Islamic battle cry that means "God is great" 
• Kufic script: The word "Allahu Akbar" is written in Kufic script 11 times on each border of the flag, totalling 22 times 

The colours green, white, and red have been used in early versions of the Iranian flag. The flag was officially enshrined in the Constitution of 1906.

The flag is also known as the Tricolour Flag of Iran, these colours of the flag are symbolic and are also used in the flags of other Muslim countries. 

The official religion of Iran is Twelver Ja'afari Shia Islam. The Iranian constitution defines the country as an Islamic republic, and all laws must be based on Islamic criteria. 

Other religious minorities in Iran face discrimination and persecution. The Iranian government has been criticized for its treatment of religious minorities, including Baha'is, Christians, Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrians, and Jews. 

Iran is home to the second largest Jewish community in the Muslim world and the Middle East. The Baháʼí Faith is the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran. 

 The government arrests religious minorities on vague charges.

There are also limits regarding access to higher education for most religious minorities. 

The government screens applicants for public sector employment for their knowledge of Islam. 

The government criminalised proselytizing and insulting "divine religions or Islamic schools of thought". 

Under Iranian law, apostasy from Islam is punishable by death. Non-religious Iranians are officially unrecognized by the government, and one must declare oneself as a member of one of the four recognized faiths in order to avail oneself of many of the rights of citizenship.

Even most of the time and occasions, all female citizens, including non-Muslims, are required to wear Hijab as Iran is currently an Islamic republic.

Family in Iran is considered holy and being a mother is very important. In Iran everyone has to get married, and it is considered a sin if has a child out of wedlock. Everything in Iran is based on family. All the family members live together until they get married and are ready to begin their own lives.

 According to Sharia, romantic relationships between unmarried individuals are not permitted, and this extends to restrictions on cohabitation.

Iranian women and girls now face prison terms of up to 15 years and possible death sentences for failing to wear a hijab, through a new strict law on religious dress and behaviour.

The “Law on Protecting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab” came into force on 13 December 2024, according to Iran’s Speaker of Parliament. In a dangerous escalation, the law permits the imposition of the death penalty for peaceful activism against Iran’s discriminatory compulsory veiling laws.

The law, containing 74 articles, also imposes flogging, exorbitant fines, harsh prison sentences, travel bans, and restrictions on education and employment for women and girls who defy compulsory veiling laws. It also penalizes private entities that fail to enforce compulsory veiling, while providing impunity to officials and vigilantes who violently attack women and girls for defying it.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran known simply as Nezam is the ruling state and current political system in Iran, in power since the Iranian revolution.

Iran is a unitary Islamic republic with one legislative house. The country's 1979 constitution put into place a mixed system of government, in which the executive, parliament, and judiciary are overseen by several bodies dominated by the clergy.

Like many countries it is not a safe place to visit.