Armenians in Iran

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Saint Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran, 2016: Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
Divine service in Sankt Sarkis, Tehran 2017
Shoghakat Church Tabriz , 2008

The Armenians in Iran ( Armenian Իրանահայեր Iranahajer or Պարսկահայեր Parskahajer , Persian ارمنی‌های ایران Armeniha-ye Iran ) are mostly citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran with Armenian origin and membership of a Christian church . As a rule, they are bilingual with Armenian and Persian and the majority belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church . Smaller groups belong to the Armenian Catholic Church or Armenian Evangelical Church . The majority of Iran's Armenians live in Tehran ; There are other large communities in the Isfahan district of New Jolfa and in Tabriz . With perhaps 150,000 people, the Armenians form the largest Christian minority in Iran and the largest group of the Armenian diaspora in an Islamic country, but many of them emigrate to the West, as from other Islamic countries. As a traditional Christian minority, they have the right to practice their religion according to the constitution of the Islamic Republic and they own a number of historic churches. Of the roughly 600 Christian church buildings in Iran, around 480 are Armenian, of which only around 80 were used by active Armenian parishes in 2016.

number

The Armenian Apostolic Archbishop of Tehran Sepuh Sargsyan (Sebouh Sarkissian) stated that the current number of Armenians in Iran was 100,000 in 2007, citing the IRNA news agency , while in earlier times there were "several hundred thousand" Armenians in the borders of today's Iran . In an interview with the Iranian-Armenian daily Alik in November 2016, Sargsyan named an “official” number of 80,000. The BBC cited estimates that the number of Armenians fell from 300,000 before the Islamic revolution in 1979 to less than half in 2000. According to official censuses, all Christians in Iran combined made up only 168,593 people in 1976, when the largest number was recorded, while the number had fallen to 109,415 in 2006 and had risen again - roughly in proportion to the total population - to 117,704 by 2011. The Armenians make up the bulk of these recognized Christians. The Majlis -Abgeordnete Karen Khanlari estimated in January 2015, the number of Armenians of Iran, however, to only 60,000 to 70,000.

Archbishop Sargsjan put the number of Armenian churches in New Jolfa ( Isfahan ) at 14, in Tehran 11, in Tabriz 4, in the Peria ( Fereydan ) region near Isfahan 10 and one each in Arak , Rasht , Anzali , and Mashhad , Gharak , Hamadan , Urmia and Ghazni . Many of the 300 or so Armenian churches have fallen into disrepair, but some are given national status by the state.

history

Saint Thaddeus Monastery in Northern Iran
View over New Jolfa , the Armenian district of Isfahan . On the right the Armenian Holy Savior Cathedral (Vank) .
New Jolfa, Isfahan: Bethlehem Church (consecrated 1628, left); Church of the Holy Mother of God (consecrated 1613, right). Photo from 1972, Vazken Ghougassian.
Savior Cathedral (Wank) in Isfahan

Armenian history is repeatedly linked to Persian history over long periods of time, as areas of historical Armenia repeatedly belonged to predecessor states of today's Iran . The oldest traces of Armenian history in today's Iran can be found in those areas in northwestern Iran that were counted as Armenia in antiquity, namely the monastery of St. Stephanos near Dscholfa from the 9th century, where, according to tradition, as early as 62 AD. the apostle Bartholomäus is said to have founded a previous building during the Parthian Empire , as well as the monastery of St. Thaddäus with building parts from the 10th century near Tschaldoran in Iranian west Azerbaijan , which is traditionally ascribed to the foundation by Judas Thaddäus in 66 AD .

One of the Iranian cities with very old Armenian communities is the former trading metropolis of Tabriz , located on the Silk Road . The Armenian St. Mary's Church located here was built in the 12th century and mentioned by Marco Polo in his travelogue on the way to China around 1275, but was completely destroyed in the devastating earthquake in 1780, which is why the current church building there dates from 1785.

First mentioned in the 5th century, old Jolfa was an important trading center in the Middle Ages, where both Muslims and Armenian Christians lived. With the wars between the Ottoman Empire and Persia under the Safavids in the 16th century, the city fell into disrepair. In 1604, Shah Abbas I had the city burned down, which he could not defend against the Turks, and the more than 20,000 inhabitants were deported to the Persian metropolis of Isfahan , where the Armenians built a new district with 24 churches, which they called Nor Jugha ( New Dscholfa ) and that is still the residential area of ​​the Isfahan Armenians today. The local Cathedral of the Holy Savior (Surp Amenaprgitsch Wank) was built from 1655 and 1664, completed when already the Qajar prevailed. In the area around Isfahan there were also some Armenian villages. The Armenian community was active in trade and handicrafts and thus gained importance for the cultural and economic development of Iran. The French traveler Jean Chardin visited the city in 1673 and reported that the merchant Agha Piri, head of the Isfahan Armenian community, had a fortune of more than 2 million livres Tournois (equivalent to 1500 kg of gold), while the richest merchants in France at the time, Beauvais and Amiens, left behind a fortune of 60,000 or 163,000 Livres Tournois at their death, which was already an astronomical sum. Since then, no Armenians have lived in the old Armenian settlement area around Dscholfa am Araxes. To this day, however, the old Church of Our Lady of Daraschamb still stands near Dscholfa.

With the expansion of the Russian Empire in 1828 , all areas of today's Armenia were finally lost to Qajar Persia. As a result, many Armenians emigrated from the still Persian areas to Russian Armenia , while Muslims took the opposite route.

Armenian women in Iran under the Qajars

The Armenians played an important role in the cultural and economic development of Iran in the 20th century. Armenians were pioneers in photography, theater and film and were involved in politics. For example, the ethnic Armenian Yeprem Khan was significantly involved in the Young Persian Revolution , in the course of which an Iranian parliament ( Majles Schora Melli ) was elected for the first time . In 1921 the rule was introduced into the electoral law that two members of the Majles should be elected by the ethnic Armenians.

The Armenian apostolic theologian Malachia Ormanian estimated in 1911 that around 83,400 Armenians lived in Persia, including 81,000 members of the Armenian Apostolic Church and 2,400 Armenian Catholics , 40,400 in Iranian Azerbaijan , 31,000 in and around Isfahan and 7,000 in Kurdistan and Lorestan and 5,000 lived in Tehran.

During the genocide of the Armenians from 1915 onwards, around 50,000 Armenians from the Ottoman Empire found refuge in Persia. The city of Urmia, on the other hand, which at the beginning of the 20th century still had around 40% Christian inhabitants - Armenians and Assyrians - lost a large part of these inhabitants, because after the invasion of Turkish troops , who carried out systematic massacres, in northwestern Iran during the First World War over 100,000 people died in the region and 30,000 Armenians fled to the Russian Empire. After the end of the Democratic Republic of Armenia and the establishment of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic , around 10,000 Armenians from Soviet Armenia went to Iran, including the party leadership of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). Another 30,000 or so immigrants from the Soviet Union increased the number of Armenians in Iran to up to 200,000 in 1930.

The modernizations under Reza Shah Pahlavi (1924–1941) and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941–1979) gave the Armenians of Iran opportunities for economic development. Reza Shah Pahlavi, however, issued restrictions on the Armenian language as part of his policy of persecution and limited Armenian lessons in Armenian schools to 2 hours per week. Old Armenian place and street names were also persecuted, especially in Iranian Azerbaijan. In 1938/39 the Armenian schools were closed. Under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the internal self-government of the Armenian communities was restored.

From 1946 to 1949, around 20,000 Armenians from Iran accepted the invitation of the Soviet Union to emigrate to Soviet Armenia. Another 25,000 followed them between 1962 and 1982. Nevertheless, some estimates of the number of Armenians in Iran in 1979, ie just before the Islamic Revolution, amount to 250,000 to 300,000.

After the Islamic Revolution , the new constitution of the Islamic Republic of 1979 granted religious minorities and thus also the Armenians the right to practice their religion, as well as the right to their own clubs and schools. The rule that two members of the Majles are elected by the Armenians was retained. In public, however, the Armenians also had to comply with Islamic laws such as the dress code. In the schools of the Armenians, the length of Armenian lessons was set at just 2 hours per week in 1982, which was not increased again to 5 hours until 1995.

Armenian war graves in Tehran from the Iran-Iraq war
Armenian war graves in Tehran from the Iran-Iraq war. The clergy at the grave include two Zoroastrian mobed (in white), a Shiite mullah (with a turban) and an Armenian priest (in the background, with a hood)

During the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988, Armenians (and members of other minorities) also had to serve at the front and died roughly in proportion to their proportion of the population. According to official information, a total of 17,000 Armenians served in the Iranian army during the war, 260 of whom died. A place in Tehran was named after a fallen Armenian in the Iranian army, Gagik Toumanian.

Restrictions and war led to increased emigration, especially to the USA , which caused the number of Armenians to fall to about half the level in 1979 by the year 2000.

Genocide Memorial Day 2017 in Tehran: Armenians with national flags of Iran

The Armenian leadership maintains a good relationship with the mullahs dominated Iranian state and shows their loyalty to the Islamic Republic. Representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church resisted attempts by the US during the Iran-Iraq war to encourage them to resist the leadership of Iran.

A great success in the cooperation of the Armenians of Iran, including the Tabriz Bishop Nshan Topouzian , with the Iranian government is the inclusion of the old Armenian monasteries of St. Thaddäus and St. Stephen in northern Iran on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008 took place. The Armenian Apostolic Church is striving to revitalize the Thaddäus Monastery, to which thousands of Armenians - mostly from Iran - make a pilgrimage every July (on different days), as a place of Christian spirituality.

language

The spoken in Iran variants of Ostarmenischen be in Armenian as Parskahajeren referred (Պարսկահայերեն, "Persian Armenian"). One of the peculiarities of the Parskahajeren is the preservation of the classical pronunciation of the / r / as a voiced alveolar approximant as in Classical Armenian (and as in English), while elsewhere in both West Armenian and East Armenian the realization of the / r / as a voiced alveolar Flap (similar to Spanish) is. The Armenian media in Iran write - unlike in Armenia - in traditional and not in Reformed Armenian script .

Even today, Armenian still plays an essential role as the language actually used. In 2017, for example, it was reported that in the Ararat Stadium in Tehran, Armenian could be heard almost everywhere and only a little Persian was spoken. People with an Armenian mother tongue can be recognized by their Armenian pronunciation when they speak Persian. Such an Armenian accent can still be heard among young Armenians in Iran in 2015.

Current status in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Archbishop Sepuh Sargsyan (center), St. Sarkis Tehran, on Genocide Remembrance Day, April 24, 2017

The Armenian Christians, like the Assyrian Christians , the Jews and the Zoroastrians, are a recognized religious minority according to the Iranian constitution. In contrast to newly established churches, they therefore have the legal right to practice the Christian faith in their churches and to maintain their own schools. In addition, the Armenian Christians elect two members of the Iranian parliament ( Majles ), which has a total of 290 members, while the Assyrians, Jews and Zoroastrians each elect one member. The remaining 285 MPs are Muslims and are elected by the Muslim majority population. Since the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church do not do any missionary work among non-Christians, they are not viewed as a danger by the Iranian leadership, unlike the Protestant churches.

Claude Bartolone , President of the French National Assembly, visits the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, September 8, 2016

According to the constitution, Persian is the official language, so official documents must be written in Persian. However, minority languages ​​such as Armenian may also be used in the mass media and literature.

In public, and thus also in church services, the Armenians of Iran are subject to the dress code of the Islamic Republic, which means that women must wear a headscarf . The same applies to separate lessons for girls and boys and the separate use of playgrounds. It can be deviated from in closed rooms to which only Christians have access. There are some exclusive Armenian nightclubs in which men and women can dance together without a headscarf.

In the 80,000 square meter sports complex around the Ararat Stadium in the northern Vanak district of Tehran , the Armenians of Iran hold sporting events among themselves. The Iranian national soccer player Andranik Teymourian began his career at FC Ararat Tehran in the Ararat stadium . When he became the captain of the Iranian national soccer team as a Christian in April 2015 , it was a first in Iranian soccer history.

2014 genocide commemoration in Tehran. Kessab in Syria, which was occupied by Islamists from March to June 2014, is also commemorated here on a red sign.

The Armenians are the most organized minority in Iran in terms of numbers. They maintain their own sports clubs, museums and clubs, to which only Armenians or only Christians have access due to state regulations. The official policy of segregation leads to a strong stabilization of the Armenians as an ethnic group, so that some people even speak of the “hidden blessing” of the Islamic revolution for the Armenian community in Iran. There is extensive endogamy , and hardly any Armenian woman marries a Muslim, while this was the case more often before the revolution. Marrying a Christian with a Muslim woman is prohibited under Iranian law. The Armenians thus form a closed group, even though almost all Armenians in Iran speak Persian perfectly as their first or at least second language and the Christian Armenians and their Muslim neighbors generally have a good relationship. There are young Armenians in Iran who were born after the revolution and have practically spent their entire lives in an Armenian environment.

Commemoration of the Armenian genocide in 2017 in Tehran. The pictures show the destroyed Church of the Redeemer of Ani .

Many Armenians from Iran still come together for important events such as the annual commemoration of the Armenian genocide on April 24th in the Saint Sarkis Cathedral in Tehran or rallies for the Syrian city of Kessab in 2014 and received attention Iranian media.

Armenian scouts ( ՀԱՅ ԱՐԻ ) in Tehran, April 24, 2017

Many Iranian-Armenian youths are socialized with the Armenian scouts , which were founded in Tehran as part of the Armenian cultural organization Ararat in 1951 by the then 22-year-old Leonidas Ohanian. Based on the US model, the scout organizations for boys ( Armenian Հայ Արի Haj Ari , "Armenian brave") and girls ( Armenian Հայ Արենուշ Haj Arenusch ), who are still active in the Ararat organization in the Ararat stadium, were established to this day.

The relationship between the Armenians in Isfahan and their Muslim neighbors is described as trusting and respectful. In 2000, the prelate of the Armenian apostolic diocese of Isfahan, Archbishop Gorun Babian , said that the Armenians were fully accepted by the Isfahan population and were viewed as brothers as well as part of their Islamic culture and history. Conversely, the Armenians do not see themselves as strangers either and are proud of the friendly relations with the Muslims.

Armenian villages

Today almost all Armenians in Iran now live in cities, but there used to be a number of Armenian villages - on the one hand around the city of Isfahan, on the other hand around Lake Urmia in Iranian Azerbaijan , where many Assyrians also lived. These Christian villages were mostly abandoned at the time of the Turkish invasion during the First World War . Even today there is the Armenian village of Gardabad (Gyardabad) with its medieval Church of St. George (Surp Gevorg), which in the 2006 official census had 537 predominantly Christian Armenian inhabitants, and the village of Rahva with its Church of St. Mary ( Surb Astvatsatsin ) from the 17th century and 105 inhabitants. The Tabriz prelate Krikor Chiftjian paid a visit to both villages and the Armenian St. Stephen's Church in Urmia in March 2012.

Armenian schools

Armenian picture book Sasna Tun ("House of Sasun ") with the story of Sanasar and Baghdasar, part of the epic by David von Sasun , Tehran Armenian Central School Committee, Tehran 1982.
Commemoration of the Armenian genocide in 2016 in Tehran

As a religious minority (in contrast to Muslim minorities such as the Azeris , Kurds and Arabs ), the Armenians of Iran have their own schools, in which, however, with the exception of Armenian lessons - as in all schools in Iran - lessons must be in Persian. Already Reza Shah Pahlavi limited the scope of the Armenian lessons to two hours as part of the persification policy , which was increased again under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi . After the Islamic Revolution, the government initially wanted to ban teaching Armenian altogether, which led to school strikes. In 1982, the length of Armenian lessons was set at just 2 hours a week, which was only enforced in Tehran schools, while in Isfahan, for example, Armenian was taught up to 8 hours a week. Islamic religious instruction in the Persian language was also prescribed by Muslim teachers. In 1995 the number of permissible weekly Armenian lessons was increased to five. In practice, the schools succeeded in increasing the number of Armenian-speaking hours through additional Christian religious instruction.

According to the Isfahan psychologist Levon Davidian, there were 20 Armenian schools in Isfahan in 2000 with almost 10,000 students. According to the Public Relations Officer of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran, Gaspar Amirchanjan, there were 12 Armenian schools in Tehran in March 2016, which were attended by 3,500 students. In the 1970s there were still 36 schools with 14,000 students. In 1991 there were 11,000 students in Tehran who received Armenian lessons from 200 teachers. Amirchanjan emphasizes that the Armenian community strives for modern teaching methods. In November 2016, the Archbishop of Tehran, Sepuh Sargsjan, named 17 Armenian schools and 4 kindergartens in Tehran, with further Armenian schools and kindergartens in New Jolfa (Isfahan), Tabriz and Urmia.

emigration

The abandoned Mahlezan Church on the outskirts of Choy , from where most of the Armenians fled during the Turkish massacres of 1915–1918. Many churches that have been orphaned by emigration have fallen into disrepair.

From the 1940s to the 1970s, around 40,000 Armenians emigrated from Iran to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic under the Shah , and they were supported by their leadership. Some Armenians from the Islamic Republic of Iran have also emigrated to independent Armenia , but the number is far below those who have emigrated to the USA and other Western countries. Armenians from Iran - especially during the Soviet era - were often not welcomed by the people of Armenia and viewed as "foreigners". In addition, they face economic disadvantages. In contrast to the Western Armenian- speaking Armenians from Syria , they speak Eastern Armenian like the residents of Armenia , but can be recognized by linguistic peculiarities such as Persian instead of Russian loanwords and their pronunciation.

Armenia, which itself has to contend with a very high level of emigration to Russia due to its economic situation - in the opinion of Armenians in Iran also because of its "mafia-like structures" - has taken a back seat as a destination for emigrants from Iran. For the Armenians of Iran, Glendale in California , which is heavily influenced by Armenian immigrants, has become the main emigration destination. For some, however, the new economic start brings great hardship. Facilitation of immigration to the USA and Australia through the activities of immigrant organizations has promoted the migration of Armenians to these countries.

Representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church have repeatedly expressed concern about the emigration and are trying to ensure that Armenians stay. The Armenian Archbishop of Tehran Sepuh Sargsyan and his public relations officer Gaspar Amirchanjan emphasized in 2016 that emigration is not the sole problem of the Armenians in Iran, but of the entire Iranian society. The prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Diocese of Isfahan, Archbishop Gorun Babian, said in 2000 that he was most afraid of the emigration of Armenians to western countries. While the Isfahan Armenian community has retained its Christian and Armenian identity for four hundred years amid Islam, it would lose all of this in the western world.

Despite the economic problems in Armenia, migration in the opposite direction - from Armenia to Iran - plays only a minor role, and Armenian citizens do not appear in the official Iranian statistics, which list the main countries of origin of immigrants. Nevertheless, even in the 21st century there are isolated reports of cases in which people from Armenia have become part of the Armenian community in Iran.

Armenian press in Iran

In Tehran, the daily Alik and the weekly Arax appear in Armenian .

literature

  • Eliz Sanasarian: Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (United Kingdom) 2004.
  • David Nejde Yaghoubian: Ethnicity, Identity, and the Development of Nationalism in Iran. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse (New York) 2014
  • Cosroe Chaquèri: The Armenians of Iran. The Paradoxical Role of a Minority in a Dominant Culture, Articles and Documents. Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Harvard University, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1998
  • Meir Litvak: Constructing Nationalism in Iran: From the Qajars to the Islamic Republic. 2017
  • James Barry: Re-Ghettoization: Armenian Christian Neighborhoods in Multicultural Tehran. Iranian Studies 50 (4), 2017, pp. 553-573.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e David Zenian: The Islamic Revolution: A Blessing in Disguise for Iranian-Armenians. AGBU, September 1, 1991.
  2. ↑ Of the 600 churches in Iran, 480 are Armenian - scientific conference. Horizon Weekly, March 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b Fredrik Dahl, Reza Derakhshi: Iran holds its Black Church as symbol of tolerance. Reuters, October 25, 2007 ( Spiegel at Christian Today )
  4. ↑ a b c «Գանձասար» -ի հարցազրոյցը ՝ Թեհրանի հայոց թեմի առաջնորդ Տ. Սեպուհ արք. Սարգսեանի հետ [ Gandzasar's interview with Archbishop Sepuh Sargsyan]. Ալիք ( Alik ) November 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Jim Muir: Thursday, January 6, 2000, 20:56 GMT Marking the millennium in Islamic Iran. Armenians enjoy a relationship of trust with the Muslim community.
  6. ↑ a b Iran Census Results 2011 ( Memento from December 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) United Nations
  7. ^ United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics. In: un.org. Retrieved November 30, 2017 .
  8. ↑ a b c A Look at the Vibrant Iranian Armenian Community. Financial Tribune (Tehran), January 13, 2015.
  9. ^ A. Bruke, V. Maxwell, I. Shearer, Iran: Lonely Planet, 2012.
  10. ↑ a b c Agnes Tandler: There are fewer and fewer Christians in Iran. The biggest problem is emigration. Domradio, December 10, 2012.
  11. ↑ کلیساهای تاریخی ایران ، درگاه کویر ، معماری و بناها [ Historical Churches of Iran, Desert Harbor, Architecture and buildings ].
  12. ↑ H. Nahavandi, Y. Bomati: Shah Abbas, empereur de Perse (1587-1629). Perrin, Paris 1998.
  13. ^ Trudy Ring, Noelle Watson, Paul Schellinger: Middle East and Africa: International Dictionary of Historic Places . Routledge, S. 268 .
  14. ↑ Kouymjian, March 3, 2016 ( Memento of March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ ISFAHAN
  16. ↑ A. Amurian, M. Kasheff: Armenians of Modern Iran. In: Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved in 1986 .
  17. ↑ a b c Aram Arkun: Dašnak. In: Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved in 1994 .
  18. ↑ Aram Arkun: Eprem Khan. In: Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved in 1994 .
  19. ↑ Malachia Ormanian : Հայոց եկեղեցին և իր պատմութիւնը, վարդապետութիւնը, վարչութիւնը, բարեկարգութիւնը, արաողութիւնը, գրականութիւն, ու ներկայ կացութիւնը [The Church of Armenia: her history, doctrine, rule, discipline, liturgy, literature and state] . Constantinople 1911, p. 266 (Armenian).
  20. ^ Justin A. McCarthy : Muslims and minorities: the population of Ottoman Anatolia and the end of the empire . New York University Press, New York 1983, ISBN 978-0-87150-963-5 .
  21. ↑ George Bournoutian: A Concise History of the Armenian People: (from Ancient Times to the Present) . 2nd Edition. Mazda Publishers, 2002, ISBN 978-1-56859-141-4 ( here in the Google book search).
  22. ↑ Eliz Sanasarian: Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (United Kingdom) 2004. p. 38.
  23. ↑ Migration from Iran to Soviet Armenia ( Memento from February 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ↑ Assessment for Christians in Iran, Minorities At Risk Project, 2006 ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  25. ^ Helen Chapin Metz: Iran: a country study . Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1989, pp. 96 ( here in the Google book search - There were an estimated 300,000 Armenians in the country at the time of the Revolution in 1979.).
  26. ↑ Eliz Sanasarian: Religious Minorities in Iran . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, ISBN 978-1-139-42985-6 , pp. 69 ( here in the Google book search - Armenians numbered an estimated 250,000 in 1979).
  27. ↑ Eliz Sanasarian: Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (United Kingdom) 2004. pp. 81f.
  28. ↑ Iran's religious minorities waning despite own MPs. Bahai.uga.edu, accessed February 16, 2000 .
  29. ↑ Iranian president visited families of Armenian martyrs during Iran-Iraq was . Panorama on December 25, 2017.
  30. ↑ Mohammad Affianian: Square in Tehran Renamed After Armenian War Martyr. Financial Tribune (Tehran), August 16, 2015.
  31. ↑ David Nejde Yaghoubian: Ethnicity, Identity, and the Development of Nationalism in Iran. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse (New York) 2014. pp. 286f.
  32. ^ Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran. WHC UNESCO, Date of Inscription: 2008.
  33. ↑ Armenians make a pilgrimage to the oldest Christian monastery in the world. Pro Oriente, July 19, 2012.
  34. ↑ a b Afsheen Sharifzadeh (Tufts University): On "Parskahayeren", or the Language of Iranian Armenians. August 25, 2015.
  35. ↑ Holy Cross Chapel - An unexpected icon, this church brings Armenian-Iranians together. Brownbook - An Urban Guide to the Middle East, issue 62 - The Brutalist Architecture in Tehran. Plus Memar Magazine Archives. March – April 2017.
  36. ^ A walk through the old pastry shops of downtown Tehran. The Guardian , Feb. 2, 2015.
  37. ↑ Christ becomes the captain of the national soccer team . tagesschau.de, April 5, 2015 ( Memento from April 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  38. ↑ James Barry: Re-Ghettoization: Armenian Christian Neighborhoods in Multicultural Tehran. Iranian Studies 50 (4), 2017, pp. 553-573.
  39. ↑ Feast of Blessing of Grapes in Saint Sarkis Cathedral. Alalam, November 30, 2017
  40. ↑ Iranian Armenians rally against Ottoman genocide in 99th anniversary. YJC, April 26, 2014.
  41. ↑ کلیسای سرکیس مقدس یا کلیسای سارکیس مقدس ایرنا - تهران - کلیسای سرکیس مقدس یا کلیسای سارکیس مقدس.عکس: امین جلالی * [Saint Sarkis Tehran, Genocide Commemoration 2017]. IRNA, April 24, 2017.
  42. ↑ تصاویر / تجمع جمعی از ارامنه اصفهان [Assembly of Armenians in Isfahan - Save Kessab] TadbirVAomid, April 27, 2014.
  43. ^ Armenians in Tehran Rally in Defense of Kesab. HETQ on April 7, 2014.
  44. ↑ David Nejde Yaghoubian: Ethnicity, Identity, and the Development of Nationalism in Iran. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse (New York) 2014, pp. 231-233.
  45. ↑ Սկաուտական ​​Միութեան (Organization Ararat: Scout Association). Հայ Մշակութային Արարատ Կազմակերպությունը (Հ.Մ.Ա.Կ., Armenian Cultural Organization Ararat, website), August 14, 2013.
  46. ↑ Parochial visit to Rahva, Gyardabad and Urmia in North-West Iran - Very Reverend Father Krikor Chiftjian welcomed with "salt and bread" in Rahva. ( Memento of the original from December 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.azad-hye.net archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Middle East Armenian Portal AZAD-Hye, March 2012.
  47. ↑ Eliz Sanasarian: Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (United Kingdom) 2004. pp. 78-82.
  48. ↑ a b c Number of students in Tehran's Armenian schools decrease . Armenpress, March 31, 2016.
  49. ↑ Gayane Abrahamyan: Armenia: Iranian-Armenians Struggle to Change Image as “Foreigners”. Eurasianet, October 18, 2010.
  50. ↑ Nazik Armenakyan: A Portrait Of Armenian Women In Iran (accessed December 9, 2017). A journalist from Armenia who started a family with an Iranian Armenian in Tehran is mentioned on this website.