Irreligion in Iran has a long historical background, but is difficult to measure, as those who profess atheism are at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and the death penalty.
[9][10] Citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran are officially divided into four categories: Muslims, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians.
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".
[12] According to the Ali Reza Eshraghi, the problem with today's Iranian society is that few political or religious critics are willing to recognise or understand the “popular religion.” In other words, both the Islamic regime and its opposing elites are not fond of the manners in which the laymen practice religion.
[16] 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.
[16] 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.
[16] Iran is one of the most tech-savvy societies in the developing world, with an estimated 28 million Internet users, led by youth.
[19] 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.
[20][page needed] A 2012 national telephone survey of a sample of 400 Iranian-Americans in the Los Angeles area, commissioned by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans and conducted by Zogby Research Services, asked the respondents what their religions were.
[21][22] The Central Committee for Ex-Muslims was founded by Dutch-Iranian Ehsan Jami with an aim to support apostates and to bring attention to women's rights violations.