February 28, 2020
The regime has banned the use of Zoroastrian-style marriage ceremonies. The ceremonies have been growing in recent years and are seen by the regime as a form of opposition to the Islamic Republic and the state religion.
Since the Islamic clergy took over the state four decades ago, religion has become a form of dissident expression, with some critics of the regime leaving the state faith. Most of the publicity has gone to those who have become Christian. But a larger number have probably shifted to Sufism. Many, however, have simply adopted some aspects of Zoroastrianism while not actually changing their faith.
For example, many people wear symbols of Zoroastrianism, such as the foruhar, as an expression of nationalism and opposition to the regime, not as any indicator of religious conversion.
The growth of Zoroastrian-style wedding ceremonies, called Aryan weddings, is another sign of that separation from the officially sponsored faith.
The regime has now taken after them, banning them outright as un-Islamic.
The 34 official bureaus that register marriage contracts based on Zoroastrian-style rites have been closed down, the head of the Islamic Republic’s Union of Marriage and Divorce registration bureaus announced October 30.
During the Aryan marriage ceremony, a verse from the Zoroastrian holy book is read to the couple: “These words I speak to you, maidens and newlywed husbands, and hope you will bear them in your minds carefully. Understand them deep within your souls and always live full of love with a pure mind. Try to surpass each other in truth and righteousness. Thus, each one of you shall, indeed, reap the reward of joy and happiness.”
According to Ali Mozaffari, a state official dealing with marriage registration, Aryan marriage contracts and ceremonies related to it are “against the law” of the land.
Proponents of the Aryan marriage, however, argue that no written law forbids them to marry each other in the ancient Iranian style.
Moreover, they say, as Zoroastrianism is recognized by the Islamic Republic’s Constitution, they should be free to marry on the basis of its traditions.
Radio Farda said that many sociologists believe that Iranian youth have turned to Aryan marriage as a tool to preserve their national identity against the Islamic identity that the establishment has been trying to force on them.