Irreligion in Iran

Irreligion in Iran is marginalized and by official 2011 census 265,899 persons didn't state any religion (0.3% of total population).Religiosity is strongly attached to Iranian national identity

Question of irreligion in Iran is often a political one. Mehdi Bazargan noted "to oppose Islam to Iranian nationalism is tantamount to destroying ourselves. To deny Iranian identity and consider nationalism irreligious is part and parcel of the anti-Iranian movement and is the work of the anti-revolutionaries". According to the Ali Reza Eshraghi, religious pressure and inadequate governing from the Iranian government have made Iranian people less religious. Some Iranian feminists have also been noted as being irreligious and atheistic.

The irreligious Iranian youth are banked on to eventually moderate Iran., and the Iranian youth are among the most politically active among the 57 nations of the Islamic world. As the most restive segment of Iranian society, the young also represent one of the greatest long-term threats to the current form of theocratic rule. After the 2009 presidential election, youth was the biggest bloc involved in the region’s first sustained “people power” movement for democratic change, creating a new political dynamic in the Middle East. Iran is one of the most tech-savvy societies in the developing world, with an estimated 28 million Internet users, led by youth. Most young Iranians are believed to want to be part of the international community and globalization.

According to Harvard University professor Robert D. Putnam, the average Iranian is slightly less religious than the average American.Iranian-Americans are distancing themselves from Islam, having accepted the negative characteristics associated with the religion. This is due to Islam being imposed on the Iranians through war and invasion, equating to authoritarianism, brutality and corruption. In the book, Social Movements in 20th Century Iran: Culture, Ideology, and Mobilizing Frameworks, author Stephen C. Poulson adds that Western ideas are making Iranians irreligious.

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