In the government of the Islamic Republic, we witness that dealing with unofficial religious minorities (such as Persian Christians, Baha’is, Yarsanis, etc.) is carried out in two ways: direct and security measures, as well as indirect measures and serious social deprivation, with the aim of eliminating them. However, being in groups that are systematically discriminated against makes the situation particularly difficult. In this issue of Khat-e-Solh, we have focused on the situation of women belonging to unofficial religious minorities; women who, in addition to enduring widespread discrimination due to their gender and belonging to an unofficial religious minority, must also resist the specific challenges faced by women in these minority groups. To this end, in this issue, Khat-e-Solh has interviewed Mr. Reza Kazemzadeh.

Reza Kazemzadeh is a clinical psychologist and family therapist. He completed his studies at the ULB University in Brussels and his specialization at UCL University

Discrimination against women and non-official religious minorities is usually addressed separately. But what situation does the integration of these two create for women of non-official religious minorities?

Women from religious minorities endure double oppression and are victims of both types of oppression that are imposed on certain parts of society in Iran; one related to their gender and the other related to belonging to an unofficial religious minority.

On one hand, they are recognized as women, but the laws that are currently enforced in our society are highly discriminatory and have turned them into second-class citizens. On the other hand, as members of an unrecognized religious minority, such as Christians and Baha’is, they face a different type of oppression; one that does not even recognize the individual status and position of those belonging to these minorities. In other words, unlike the previous case, members of unofficial religious minorities are pushed to the margins of society. The mechanism used to discriminate against them is to not even recognize them as they define themselves, for example as a Christian human being, and to indirectly and completely differently try to push them to the margins of society and keep them there. In fact, they are trying to destroy

What consequences does depriving women of the right to education and work and hindering their social and economic progress due to these deprivations have for those who are also members of a non-official religious minority?

The goal of depriving women belonging to non-official religious minorities of their right to education and work and preventing their social and economic progress is to marginalize them through the same policy. It can be said that all the opportunities that a person can have socially to manage and progress in their life are taken away from these individuals. For example, education is one of the most important means of social progress, class mobility, and changing one’s social status in modern societies. When you deprive someone of their right to education, you hinder their growth and progress, and your effort is to completely separate that person from more advanced and elite structures of society and keep them at a distance. In fact, you are trying to keep these groups weak in society. Keeping them weak also causes them to feel inferior. The government’s goal in instilling this feeling of inferiority in these individuals and their children, who constantly experience these deprivations, is to create a sense of self-doubt and, in

Last year, we witnessed the deprivation of custody rights from a Christian Persian-speaking couple. What is the government’s goal in this action? Why doesn’t a Christian Persian-speaking woman have the right to become a mother?

The Islamic Republic, like all totalitarian and undemocratic regimes, presents an ideal image of humanity and society. One of the important tasks of these types of governments is to create this ideal human and society. This ideal human or society, defined by ideology, justifies the existence of these types of governments in order to identify and introduce citizens who are considered unworthy or opposed to this system or regime as parasites and disruptive beings who prevent the achievement of these goals, and to send them to the margins and eliminate them. This type of ideology, or seemingly moralism and idealism, serves the direct oppression of anyone who is deemed to be against it. Therefore, it can be said that totalitarian regimes, including the Islamic Republic, former communist regimes such as the Soviet Union, and fascist regimes such as Hitler and Mussolini’s regimes, were all idealistic governments. In other words, the goal of the state was primarily to achieve an ideal human and society. These goals, although seemingly lofty and ideal

Why do other segments of society not have a proper understanding of the dire situation of women in non-official religious minorities? What psychological pressures does this impose on this group? It is often seen that even men in non-official religious minorities do not have an understanding or perception of the suffering and discrimination of women in their own community.

A common characteristic among all systems that are based on discrimination is the creation of separate social groups and a reduction in communication between these groups. For example, in our society, in order to discriminate against women, they must be completely separated from men, which is done in Iran under the name of religion. The relationship between men and women is strictly controlled, and as much as possible, the educational environment, transportation, and even jobs and roles that they can take on in society are separated. The purpose of these separations is to reduce the possibility of communication between these two parts of society. The reduction of the relationship between these two parts leads to a lack of sufficient information about the situations, conditions, and struggles that each of these two parts may face. This also applies to religious minorities. In addition to separating these minorities, rules and cultural norms are promoted in society that discourage these minorities from having any contact with each other or with the majority Muslim community. This policy ensures that individuals belonging to the majority

Why should other segments of society take practical action against discrimination towards a group they do not belong to?

The topic that is of great importance is that the system that has been formed based on discrimination in order to reproduce itself and continue its existence, severely controls social connections and in some cases even breaks and weakens them. This means that in society, relationships between people, even familial, friendly, and professional relationships outside the home, are fragile, weak, and easily susceptible to crisis, due to various reasons for discrimination against individuals. For example, when a woman is oppressed in society, it definitely affects the relationship between men and women. This is because a woman can feel that a man, even as her husband, is complicit with the government and defender of the discriminatory system. We see this issue in our culture and in what we call “honor killings,” where we witness collaboration and solidarity between men and the discriminatory government and system. This ideology, transmitted through the education of children, especially boys, has created a type of men who are either silent accomplices or actively involved with the government.

How is it possible that a government with over forty years of organized discrimination is still in place?

One of the main reasons is that a system based on discrimination and intends to continue its existence in the long run must be able to involve and collaborate with certain parts of the society. This collaboration can be very active or completely passive. By not protesting against the injustice imposed on certain parts of the society, we are silently supporting and being complicit in the system of discrimination. As I mentioned in previous responses, in our society, we do not have two completely separate groups of victims and oppressors. It can be said that in general, twenty percent of our society are either completely victims or completely oppressors. The rest are a combination of the two. As a citizen, I may be under oppression in terms of my political beliefs, but as a born Muslim and Shia, I may feel that the government is on my side and defending my rights. What the system of discrimination does in almost all of these systems is that by my silence on other issues, such as women’s rights, it makes me

Thank you for the opportunity you have given us to have a peace talk.