Author: Diana Dabaghian

TEHRAN

Tehran received season's first snowfall on Christmas Eve, spreading cheer among the country's tiny Christian population.

This year, the revelry associated with the festival in Iran has been dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing Iranian Christians to mark the occasion without traditional pomp and splendour.

On Friday, Iran recorded 6,041 new virus cases and 132 deaths, taking the overall tally to 1.18 million cases and 5,440 fatalities.

Although the cases have dropped significantly in last few weeks, the government has been wary of lifting restrictions in this festive season.

Numbering around 500,000, majority of Christians in Iran are Armenians who have lived in the country for centuries. Others are Assyrians, Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelical Christians.

In the capital Tehran, Christians are mostly concentrated in downtown Majidiyeh neighborhood, close to one of the busiest intersections of the city — Vali Asr Square.

The neighborhood, which comes alive with colorful festivities around Christmas, is remarkably quiet this year. The celebrations have shifted from streets to homes.

Interestingly, Armenian Christians, who adhere to the oriental Orthodox branch of Christianity, mark Christmas on Jan. 6, as they believe the birth and baptism of Jesus happened that day.

Armenian Christians also occupy parts of central Isfahan and northern Tabriz provinces. In the Jolfa neighborhood of Isfahan, the highlight of Christmas celebrations have always been heavily decorated pine trees in the streets and glittering prayer mass in the iconic Vank Cathedral.

"Christmas has always been special as it reminds us of our roots and traditions," Firouzeh, 27-year-old Christian trader from Jolfa, told Anadolu Agency. "But this year the pandemic has bereft us of festivities and fun on this occasion."

He said a large number of Armenian Christians in different parts of the country flock to Isfahan for Christmas to relish "exquisitely traditional festivities" at Vank Cathedral, the most famous church in Iran.

Apart from Armenians, there are Assyrians who follow the Assyrian Church of East and are mostly found in northern provinces of Tabriz and Urmia.

In a unique tradition, the Christmas celebrations in Iran follow weeks of fasting by Christians. The period of fasting culminates with preparation of chicken stew in every Christian household called "harissa".

Despite low-key celebrations, many shops and malls in Tehran, Isfahan and other major cities saw tremendous rush in last few weeks as shoppers looked for traditional Christmas merchandise, Christmas tree and Santa Claus, fondly referred to as "Baba Noel" by Iranians.

– Greetings

Meanwhile, top Iranian officials greeted the country's Christian minority on the festival.

President Hassan Rouhani termed it "an auspicious occasion" for the followers of Jesus Christ, whom he hailed as "a prophet of peace, friendship and kindness."

Parliament Speaker Baqer Qalibaf also extended his greetings on Christmas, saying he believes the "constructive interaction among divine religions will lead to realization of peace, justice and progress of human society."

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in his message termed Christmas as a "joyous occasion for all mankind".

Since the early years of the revolution, Iran has generally followed an inactive policy regarding the West, but one of reaction toward the Muslim world.

It is understandable that Iran, which lacks the capacity to respond to anti-Iranian policies implemented by the West, cannot answer in kind. However, Iran generally remains silent against most anti-Iranian activities of Western countries as is obvious from its inaction following the assassination of two influential Iranian officials.

Two top Iranian officials, Gen. Qassem Soleimani and nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, were assassinated in 2020. The assassination of Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Forces, was directly carried out by the United States at the beginning of the year.

Iran’s principal scientist behind its nuclear project, Fakhrizadeh, was allegedly killed while he was under the protection of the Revolutionary Guards.

Most observers claim that Israel is behind his assassination. Besides the harsh words spoken against these two countries, Iran took no action against the U.S. or Israel. In fact, so far Iran has not reacted effectively to any punitive actions by the West.

On the other hand, the very same Iran reacts strongly to almost any anti-Iranian statement or policy by the officials of other Muslim states such as Turkey.

Iran created a huge fuss after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recited a poem last week. Iranian officials such as Foreign Minister Javeed Zarif overreacted to the poem, claiming that it directly threatened the territorial integrity of Iran.

Many Iranian politicians and media outlets went further and intimidated Erdoğan for reciting the poem.

There are certain reasons why Iranian officials have overreacted to the poem. First of all, Iranian officials have been trying to undermine Turkey's role in the liberalization of Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation.

Turkey has emerged one more time as a game-changer in the region. Strategic weapons provided by Turkey changed the balance of power in the second Karabakh war in favor of Azerbaijan.

Iran is finding it hard to fathom Turkey's increasing popularity, due to its effective role in the liberalization of Muslim land within the Azerbaijani state boundaries. Iran is disturbed since it seems that it has lost against Turkey in the South Caucasus.

Second, the collapse of its pro-Armenian policy has upset Tehran greatly. Iran, which considers Muslim Azerbaijan as a potential threat to its national security, has been providing direct and indirect support to Armenia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Armenia, which has lost its strength and effectiveness in the region, cannot contribute much to the Iranian regional policies anymore. It seems that Iran’s political investments in Armenia proved futile.

Third, Iran does not want a solidified strategic alliance between Turkey and Azerbaijan, the two rising powers in the region. An economically and politically stronger Azerbaijan and a militarily stronger Turkey has just passed a huge test fortifying their strategic alliance.

Turkish authorities have repeatedly declared that they have given Azerbaijan a blank check in its fight for the liberalization of its territories. Turkey has contributed greatly to the fulfillment of the Azerbaijani people’s longtime dream.

Fourth, although the Iranian religious and political authority has been in power for the last 40 years, it has been acting as a minority regime in the country.

Therefore, the Iranian regime is very sensitive to any political development in the Muslim world. They always think that they are encircled by a sea of Sunni Muslims. This thinking, which is self-defeating, leads Iranian officials to think in zero-sum terms.

Fifth, Iran has been trying to recover its diminishing image and declining popularity after the assassination of Fakhrizadeh. Since they could not retaliate against the Israeli state, the regime has been trying to revitalize nationalist feelings by exaggerating Erdoğan's recitation of the poem and attacking Turkey. However, it seems that Iranian people will not buy this.

There are a number of reasons worth mentioning but space limitations do not allow me to list them. However, Iranian officials must be reminded that Tehran and Ankara are two interdependent countries in the region.

A zero-sum relationship will be detrimental to the national interests of both sides. Turkey has been much more mature in its relations with Iran. In spite of its competition with Iran, Turkey has been opposing the U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran and has been asking other regional countries to keep Iran in the regional game.

This is one of the reasons why Israel and some Gulf states have been hurling accusations against Turkey. One last point worth mentioning is that on the same day that Erdoğan recited the poem, he also called for a regional collaboration platform consisting of six regional states, i.e. Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Iran and Armenia.