A guide to Iranian online dating

Online dating has increasingly become a way for young people in Iran to connect, and, as of late, even get married, though the latter is still quite uncommon.

Fariba, 31, is a newly divorced attorney living in Tehran who, in a phone conversation, tells Al-Monitor she blames her divorce on online dating. Fariba found her ex-husband in an Iranian chat room and met up with him after four chatting sessions. He is a Sharif University graduate, brilliant and good-looking. "All I knew," she says, "was that he was unable to hold a job. We dated for a year and then got married. Once we moved in together on our wedding night, I found out that he is addicted to crystal meth. Had we initially met in person, this would have been very unlikely."