Irreligion in Iran

Irreligion in Iran has a long historical background, but is difficult to measure, as those who profess atheism are at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and the death penalty.[1] Non-religious citizens are officially unrecognized by the Iranian government. In the official 2011 census, 265,899 persons did not state any religion (0.3% of total population).[2] Between 2017 and 2022, the World Values Survey found that 1.3% of Iranians identified as atheists, and a further 14.3% as not religious. In the 1999-2004 cycle, the WVS had found 1% identified as atheist and 3% as not religious.[3]

However, a 2020 social media-based survey by Gamaan found a much larger percentage of Iranians identifying as atheist (8.8%), and a larger fraction (22.2%) identifying as not following any religion.[4][5] The survey is however questionable as it used self-selecting participants, reached through social media and chain referrals.[6] For comparison, the same survey put the number of Muslims in Iran at 40.4%, and Zoroastrians at 7.7%.[4] The Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America put the number of Zoroastrians in Iran at up to 25,271 in 2012,[7] equivalent to 0.03% of an 87.6 million population.[8]

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.[9][10]

Citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran are officially divided into four categories: Muslims, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians. This official division ignores other religious minorities in Iran, notably the agnostics, atheists and Bahá'ís.

  1. ^ "2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Iran". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  2. ^ SCI (2011). Selected Findings of National Population and Housing Census Archived 2013-05-31 at the Wayback Machine. Tehran: Statistical Centre of Iran, p. 26, ISBN 978-964-365-848-9.
  3. ^ "WVS Database". World Values Survey. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  4. ^ a b "Iranians' Attitudes Toward Religion: A 2020 Survey Report". Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN). Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  5. ^ Maleki, Ammar; Arab, Pooyan Tamimi (10 September 2020). "Iran's secular shift: new survey reveals huge changes in religious beliefs". The Conversation. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  6. ^ Maleki, Ammar; Arab, Pooyan Tamimi (August 2020). "Iranian's attitudes toward religion - A 2020 survey report" (PDF). GAMAAN.
  7. ^ Rivetna, Roshan. "The Zarathushti World, a 2012 Demographic Picture" (PDF). Fezana.org.
  8. ^ "Iran", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2024-03-13, retrieved 2024-03-24
  9. ^ Public Opinion Survey of Iranian Americans. Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA)/Zogby, December 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  10. ^ "Disparaging Islam and the Iranian-American Identity: To Snuggle or to Struggle". payvand.com. 21 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2022-03-26.