The secular-religious divide in Iran: An analysis of GAMAAN’s online surveys

Abstract

This chapter examines whether there is a secular-religious divide in contemporary Iran and to what extent, drawing insights from three online surveys conducted by GAMAAN (The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran). These surveys—conducted in June 2020, December 2022, and July 2023—utilized diverse social media, VPN tools, and satellite television channels. The resulting samples ranged from 38,000 to over 150,000 respondents in Iran. The results from a representative weighted sample reveal a religious and nonreligious diversity in Iranian society far more extensive than previously indicated by telephone and face-to-face interviews. Approximately half of the respondents identified with labels such as “Atheist,” “Agnostic,” “None,” “Belief in God without religion,” and “Spiritual.” By correlating these (non)religious identifications with perspectives on the compulsory hijab, political secularism, anti-regime protests, and media consumption, the chapter sheds light on different groups’ inclinations toward secularism and theocracy. The results confirm deep secular-religious tensions in Iranian society.