This post is the second in a series documenting an interview I had with an Iranian citizen currently living in Tehran. The first part can be found here. Arezu is a born and raised Iranian with wonderful ambitions and has been very gracious in her willingness to share her opinions and what she feels is the general Iranian feelings regarding a number of questions I have asked her. I hope you enjoy the continuing Q&A below.

Does the Islamic religion cause a difference in freedoms from what Americans believe in? Does Iran utilize Sharia law?

Honestly, I think there are different definitions about freedom since there are different points of view. As I said, Iran’s government tries its best to do base on Islam. I personally believe in those parts it does according to Islam, we can see freedom completely.

Let me give you an example, you might think “why Muslim women are wearing Hijab, it is tough for them, they do not like it, it is discrimination…” , but frankly speaking it is not. It is apparent that women are much more beautiful than men; therefore, they do not like others judge them just by how they look. Women’s beauty is something that belongs to them. Women both feel safe when they wear hijab and let other people see their behavior, knowledge,… not their beauty. Islam looks at each woman as a queen, since you cannot see a queen’s beauty as her position is so high. You also can see, all saint women, for instance the Virgin Mary always wore hijab, so it is clear that hijab is something which belongs to very good women.

Women’s character is different from men; as a result, we cannot say it is justice for them to do same as each other, for example, you cannot say a 10-year-old person and a 30-year-old person are supposed to do same, they have different need, justice is when you let them have what is appropriate for them not to give them the same things.



So as can be seen, there are a lot of logical reasons for each Islamic rule. And Islam is base on our nature and need. Islam is our freedom.

Who are the 14 people, how did they remain completely innocent?

…about the 14 innocent people, they are 1.prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him and his family) 2.Imam Ali -his son-in-law- 3.Hazrat Fatemeh -his daughter- 4. Imam Hasan -his grandson- 5. Imam Hossein -his grandson- 6.Imam Sajad -Imam Hossein’s son- 7.Imam Mohammad Bagher -Imam Sajad’s son- 8.Imam Jaefar Sadegh –Imam Mohammad Bagher’s son- 9.Imam Musa Kazem -Imam Jaefar Sadegh’s son- 10. Imam Reza -Imam Musa Kazem’s son- 11.Imam Javad -Imam Reza’s son- 12.Imam Hadi -Imam Javad’s son- 13.Imam Hasan Askari -Imam Hadi’s son- 14.Hazrat Mahdi -Imam Hassan Askari’s son-

And about how they remained completely innocent, God said in holy Quran, Sureh Ahzab, Ayeh 33: ((and God only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye members of the

family, and to make you pure and spotless.)) and also in some other parts of the Quran. Hazrat Mahdi is still alive, since all the other ones, except Prophet Mohammad, had been killed by their enemies God helped him to survive so no one knows where he is but he helps and guides people without being known by them. One day, when God

wants, he and Jesus Christ will come to rescue all good people and remove bad ones.

As prophet Mohammad said 2things that can help Muslims are both holy Quran and his family. Moreover, as an Islamic country is supposed to be led either by an innocent person or a person who guides the country based on Islamic rules, Mr. Khamenei is leading Iran based on Islam. By the way there are some representatives who are Islamic experts and can dismiss him is he does not do as Islam said.

Do you ever worry that some of the terroristic individuals, the false-Muslims if you will, are in Iran? Does Iran do much to prevent those individuals from doing their business in Iran?

Terrorists are mostly Vahabi, they are a group made by Islam enemies so they are named as Muslims but truly they just kill Muslims heartlessly as you can see it is happening in Syria. They are mostly in Saudi Arabia and also Pakistan but they go to different countries easily since they are supported by Muslims enemies to start a fight among Muslims. In addition about the terrorists, Iran is not like Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan or Syria, here is too secure, u cannot see any terrorist here, no blast happens here. Maybe just one or two times, it happened in cities which are near the board of Iran and Pakistan and terrorists were not from Iran. Therefore we are not concerned about terrorists at all, since we just have seen them on TV in other countries like Iraq.

I have seen many facebook profiles of Iranians who do not wear a hijab or other common Muslim apparel, are there varying ways to follow the Muslim religion in the country, or are there a number of Muslims?

I told you about Islam rules, Islam is one religion, some of its rules can change based on time or situation and it is something that just Islamic experts are able to judge about. Hijab is a rule that does not change at all, muslim women are supposed to wear hijab and the way of wearing hijab have been described in holy Quran, majority of Persian women are interested in hijab but there are also some ones who are not and their hijab is not appropriate, I mean it is not as is told in Islam. Frankly speaking, although it is nice for a muslim to do exactly as Islam said, there are some people who do not do it correct in every aspects but they are still muslims and they do other duties as muslims.

Do Iranians travel a lot? If so, where do Iranians like to visit?

Yes, same as other people, Persians are also really interested in traveling; they prefer to spend their holiday taking trips. they travel both around our country-as Iran is a big country, with different climates, north of Iran is next to Caspian sea and its weather is like European countries, west of Iran and also some cities such as Tehran are in a mountainous region, south of Iran which is next to Persian Gulf is warm and humid and some central areas are hot, and also there are a lot of historical places around Iran which is worth visiting- and to other countries.

What would you say the typical Iranian response is to American involvement in the affairs of the region?



We all think it is stupid because it is apparent USA does not do it for the people of the countries. As America just breaks out wars, supports terrorists and kills innocent people so just makes the situation much worse. These days, a large number of Afghanis and Iraqis tend to immigrate to Iran because they are too much tired of the current situations of their countries.

There is no merit in breaking out war and everyone is sure USA did it for its benefits. America helped Saddam a lot for ages but after a while it said he was a dictator and it was supposed to change him! America was the country which was supporting Taliban! ….

Moreover, the most important question is where are those (nuclear/chemical/atomic) weapons which America claimed are in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria?! The world would be a better place if America does not get involved in something which is not its business.

Do typical Iranians wish to have a more open relationship with the U.S.A. or just rather Americans left Iran alone?

We just cannot have relation with the country which has just shown us its enmity.

Both Iran’s government and Iranians do not have any problem with open relationship provided that America tries to be honest with Iran and accepts Iran as an Islamic Republic country, in addition, does not always be against us.

All of this interview is [SIC]. Copies of this interview are not permitted without approval from the author or interviewee.