Podcasts religion Beyond Belief How Religious Is Iran?

How Religious Is Iran?

Published: Sept. 15, 2022, 3:48 p.m.

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Last month\\u2019s attempt on Salman Rushdie\\u2019s life brought the world\\u2019s attention back on Iran and the death sentence imposed on the writer by Ayatollah Khomeini more than three decades ago.

More recently, Iran has been in the news with reports of crackdowns on perceived dissidents: women who choose not to wear the hijab and members of other religions especially the Baha'is.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is ruled by a Supreme Leader from the Shia tradition, Ayatollah Khamenei. It is he who ultimately wields the power and imposes limits on the peoples\\u2019 rights and freedoms. Given his overruling authority, it is difficult to know what ordinary people believe or how they feel about their system of government.

So is this vast country of 86 million people really an Islamic nation? And if it\\u2019s not, how religious is Iran?

Ernie Rea is joined by Professor Ali Ansari, Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian, Professor Sajjad Rizvi and Khosro Kalbasi, a journalist for BBC Monitoring watching Iran.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted\\nAssistant Producer: Peter Everett\\nEditor: Dan Tierney.

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