In pictures: Inside Iran’s secretive Yarsan faith
![Yarsani Soltan](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/17E95/production/_109614979_6506e087-ed31-4cd3-9c84-fa95615baf4c.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
The Yarsan faith is one of the oldest in the Middle East.
Also known as Ahl-e Haqq (People of the Truth), it is estimated to have about three million followers in Iran, most of whom live in western, predominantly Kurdish provinces. Another 120,000 to 150,000 live in Iraq, where they are commonly called Kaka’i.
Behnaz Hosseini, a visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford who has studied religious minorities in Iran and Iraq, recently spent time with a Yarsani community during a three-day period of fasting that takes place each autumn.
![Yarsani tanbur](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/22ED/production/_109614980_c053af9f-8872-403a-9edd-c8a0029f4fa1.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
![Yarsani Jamkhaneh](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/15785/production/_109614978_a9a2d4da-1d76-4826-a576-c305e7f5505f.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
![Yarsani Khavankar](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/E38B/production/_109615285_6e0a2be3-2c4f-479d-8268-70b5d888b6bd.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
![Yarsani Khavankar](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/12AA3/production/_109615467_fde0902f-e53f-437f-b81c-7ced7a80233c.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
![Yarsani vow](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/13075/production/_109614977_1965a03a-76c4-4ca2-92e1-d998f38d8339.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
![Yarsani pomegranate](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/710D/production/_109614982_c9a8c749-c0e9-4543-828c-6679ca364779.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hossein
![Yarsani moustache](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/10A9B/production/_109615286_1e0f0410-af6a-481e-9477-706329e580cc.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
![Yarsani Jam ceremony in Iran](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/10965/production/_109614976_f76435cd-ecf7-47a0-a60f-ce86cf79eb09.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
![Yarsani Tirikardan](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/BC7B/production/_109615284_340b9e86-c30a-4203-84a5-91c1ea92d49e.jpg)
Image copyright
Behnaz Hosseini
Photos courtesy of Behnaz Hosseini
0 comments