Community recognised as religiously and culturally distinct

Dubai: For Serine Gharibian, home is Iran, but she loves Armenia "and everything about it". Coming from a multicultural background, she says, enables her to open up to other cultures. "I listen to all kinds of music, Persian, Armenian, Arabic and Western".

Since Armenians have been in Iran for centuries, says Gharibian, they have integrated well into the larger society and adopted local customs and traditions, such as Persian food and the Persian language. "I'm fluent in Armenian," she says, "but my Persian is stronger".

Armenian assimilation in Iran and the community's long history there means there are marked differences between Iranian Armenians and other diaspora Armenians, says Gharibian. "For example, unlike Armenians in Arab countries, we don't have many descendants of World War One refugees in Iran, so I find that Arab-Armenians identify more with the war's misfortunes. Nevertheless, we in Iran also mark the dates that tragedy fell upon the Armenians during the war".

The dialect of Armenians in Arab countries differs from Iranian-Armenian dialect too. "They speak Western Armenian, which differs from our Eastern dialect. Some words are difficult to understand because they are influenced by Arabic or other languages."

Armenians are recognised in Iran as a religiously and culturally distinct community. "We are respected as honest people and are free to practice our culture and traditions. We have all the freedoms we need," she said.