Iranians in the Netherlands form one of the newer and larger populations of the

Iranian diaspora Iranian diaspora refers to Iranian people or those who are of Iranian ancestry living outside Iran. Iranians in the Netherlands are referred to by hyphenated terms such as Dutch-Iranians, Iranian-Dutch, Dutch-Persian, or Persian-Dutch. Similar terms ''Iraanse Nederlanders'', ''Nederlandse Iraniërs'', and ''Perzische-Nederlanders'' may be found in

Dutch-language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans' ...

media.

Terminology

HollandsPersianCommunityDemo25July09PhotobyPejmanAkbarzadeh

Iranians in the Netherlands are sometimes referred to by hyphenated terms such as "Dutch-Iranians", "Iranian-Dutch", "Dutch-Persian", or "Persian-Dutch". Similar terms ''Iraanse Nederlanders'', ''Nederlandse Iraniërs'', and ''Perzische-Nederlanders'' may be found in Dutch-language media. However, one scholar who uses the term "Dutch-Iranians" also expresses reservations over the validity of such a "hyphenated notion of identity" in the Dutch context, in comparison to the less problematic term "

Iranian American Iranian Americans are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry or who hold Iranian citizenship. Iranian Americans are among the most highly educated people in the United States. They have historically excelled in busine ...

". Other collective terms used to refer to the community include ''Iraanse gemeenschap'', ''Perzische gemeenschap'', and ''Perzen''.

Migration history

Though the Netherlands had a 'Persian population' since the early seventeenth century, mostly Armenian merchants ("Persianen"), which by the beginning of the nineteenth century had largely dissolved into the larger Dutch population, in more recent times other European countries such as Germany and France have had Persian communities since the early 20th century, most of the Iranian population in the Netherlands is of relatively recent provenance; virtually all came to the country after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The overall migration was quite significant relative to the whole size of Iranian emigration to Europe; from 1990–1999, the Netherlands was Europe's second most-popular destination for Iranian asylum seekers, behind Germany. However, from 1981 to 2001, only 1,292 were formally recognised as "invited refugees" (Uitgenodigde vluchtelingen), the vast majority in the period 1987-1990.

Demographic characteristics

NLpersianCommunityatSimaBinaConcertinAmsterdam2010

, statistics of the Dutch

Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (''Central Agency for Statistics''), often ...

showed: *24,535 Iranian-born persons (13,603 men, 10,932 women) *6,082 locally born persons of Iranian background (3,159 men, 2,923 women), of which: **2,491 persons with one parent also born locally (1,321 men, 1,170 women) **3,591 persons with both parents born abroad (1,838 men, 1,753 women) For a total of 30,617 persons (16,758 men, 13,855 women). This represented nearly double the 1996 total of 16,478 persons. Numerically, most of the growth was in the foreign-born segment of the population, whose numbers increased from 14,628 over the period in question; however, the rate of growth was fastest in the locally born segment of the population, which almost tripled in size from 1,850 persons.

Religion

Iran is a largely Muslim country, a fact reflected in the backgrounds of Iranian migrants to the Netherlands. However, most migrants do not continue to practise their religion. Those who do often find themselves viewed as threats and suffer exclusion from Dutch society; this trend strengthened with the growth of

political Islam Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic pri ...

in the 1980s. In 2007,

Ehsan Jami Ehsan Jami (born April 20, 1985) is an Iranian-born Iranian-Dutch politician, activist and author who co-founded the former Central Committee for Ex-Muslims. He was previously a member of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) before becoming active in ...

, a Dutch politician of Iranian descent, criticised the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets a ...

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...

, describing him as a "criminal". Together with Loubna Berrada (founder of the Advisory Committee for Integration, part of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party i ...

), Jami founded the

Central Committee for Ex-Muslims The Central Committee for Ex-Muslims ( nl, Centraal Comité voor Ex-moslims) was a Dutch committee that aimed to aid Muslims who wish to leave Islam through the constitutional right of freedom of religion. In addition, the committee fought to bre ...

in 2007. The organisation, supported by

Afshin Ellian Afshin Ellian (born 27 February 1966 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian- Dutch professor of law, philosopher, poet, and critic of political Islam. He is an expert in international public law and philosophy of law. Biography In 1989, Ellian came to ...

, aims to support

apostates from Islam Apostasy in Islam ( ar, ردة, or , ) is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim, in thought, word, or through deed. An apostate from Islam is referred to by using the Arabic and Islamic term ''murtād'' (). It includes ...

and to bring forth the reality of women's rights violations in the religion. On 4 August 2007, Jami was attacked in his hometown

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 peop ...

by three men. The attack was widely believed to be linked to his activities for the committee. The national anti-terrorism coordinator's office, the public prosecution department, and the police decided during a meeting on 6 August that "additional measures" were necessary for the protection of Jami, who subsequently received extra security.

Education

Iranians in the Netherlands are regarded as one of the highest educated and best integrated ethnic groups, according to various sources such as the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humani ...

and the

Statistics Netherlands Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (''Central Agency for Statistics''), often ...

. Not unrelated, the Iranian academic community has grown significantly, including professors Turaj Atabaki,

Halleh Ghorashi Halleh Ghorashi (also spelled Ghoreishi; born 30 July 1962) is an Iranian-born anthropologist who lives in the Netherlands. From 2005 to 2012, she held the PaVEM chair in Management of Diversity and Integration in the Department of Organization ...

and

Majid Hassanizadeh Seyed Majid Hassanizadeh ( fa, سید مجید حسنی‌زاده; born 1952) is a professor of hydrogeology at Utrecht University, where he heads the Hydrogeology group at the Faculty of Geosciences. His research focuses on flow of fluids and t ...

Discrimination against Iranian students

Due to the Iranian government's nuclear activities,

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 was unanimously passed by the United Nations Security Council on 23 December 2006. The resolution, sponsored by France, Germany and the United Kingdom, imposed sanctions against Iran for failing t ...

, which among other matters called on UN member states to prevent Iranian students from receiving specialised training which might be of use to the

nuclear programme of Iran The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor, and uranium processing facili ...

, the Dutch government implemented a variety of restrictions on Iranian students in the Netherlands. At the recommendation of the government, the

University of Twente The University of Twente (Dutch: ''Universiteit Twente''; , abbr. ) is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. I ...

went so far as to halt its admissions of students from Iran entirely, stating that it could not ensure they would have no access to nuclear-related information. However, the government later backed away from this policy. In July, they announced that Iranian students could be admitted but would be restricted from taking certain courses and visiting certain places related to the development of nuclear weapons. In response, a group of Iranian students filed suit against the government, alleging that the restrictions violated the prohibition against all forms of discrimination established by Article 1 of the

Constitution of the Netherlands The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the ...

. A local court ruled in February 2010 that the University of Twente discriminate against Iranians by refusing their admission due to their nationalities. The case went up to the

Supreme Court of the Netherlands The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ( nl, Hoge Raad der Nederlanden or simply ''Hoge Raad''), officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal and tax cases in the Netherlands, including Curaçao ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

. The final verdict of the Supreme Court confirmed the initial verdict that the ban on Iranian students is discriminatory, unlawful and a breach to European Human Rights treaty and therefore the discriminatory regulations were overruled

Iran Academia

In September 2011, Iran Academia: The Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities was established in

by a group known as the

Iranian Progressive Youth Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian ...

(IPY). The IPY, which had its origins in the

Iranian Green Movement The Iranian Green Movement ( fa, جنبش سبز ایران) or Green Wave of Iran ( fa, موج سبز ایران), also referred to as the Persian Awakening or Persian Spring by the western media, refers to a political movement that arose after ...

in 2009, had grown into a network of students and researchers around the world, including in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, North America and Australia. Iran Academia was established with the support of Iranian academics worldwide.

Political activities

The first serious conflicts between the

Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 ** Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944), Shah of ...

government and students in the Netherlands began in the 1970s. In 1974, a group of Iranians based in the Netherlands and other European countries occupied the Embassy of Iran in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...

. Another group occupied the embassy in August 1978, and were arrested by the police. Their lawyer stated to Dutch daily ''

Nieuwsblad van het Noorden The ''Nieuwsblad van het Noorden'' (; "Newspaper of the North") is a former regional daily newspaper from the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. It was published from 1888 to 2002, when it was merged with the '' Groninger Dagblad'' and the ...

'' that "Wassenar Police gives information to Persia". The early migration of political activists and their applications for asylum in the Netherlands following the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

had a major effect on the development of the Iranian community; the suspected links between the Islamic Republic embassies in Europe and the murders of prominent exiles such as the France-based former

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Shapour Bakhtiar, as well as rumours of information leaks to the Iranian embassy in The Hague from within the Dutch government, led to suspicion by Iranians both towards their fellow Iranians and towards the Dutch authorities. In 1996, Dutch daily ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ' ...

'' revealed that one fairly prominent man in the Iranian community in Amsterdam, Mahmoed Jafhari (known by the alias "Anoosh"), had been working for the

Iranian intelligence service The Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, وزارت اطّلاعات جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Vezarat-e Ettela'at Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran) is the primary intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic of ...

to gather information on exiles; he had recorded on tape every conversation held in his house with his fellow Iranians, a fact which was discovered only after his death. The social environment created by that event has resulted in numerous difficulties for later academic research. Since the

2009–2010 Iranian election protests After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests co ...

, the Iranian community in the Netherlands organised many solidarity demonstrations in Amsterdam, The Hague, Delft and Groningen. In January 2010, when the Islamic Republic Embassy in The Hague organized a "Peace Concert" at Rotterdam's De Doelen Concert Hall, it had to be stopped in the middle, because of physical confrontations between angry protesters and the embassy agents. In April 2010 a group of Iranian and Dutch protesters occupied parts of Islamic Republic Embassy in the Hague in protest to Iran's oppressive and violent policies. During this act of protest, the flag of the Islamic Republic has been lowered and replaced with a banner bearing an image of

Neda Agha Soltan Neda may refer to: People * Neda (musician) (Tenielle Neda, born 1987), an Australian singer-songwriter * Ana-Neda, Empress consort of Bulgaria 1323–1324 * Musaed Neda (born 1983), Kuwaiti footballer * Neda Agha-Soltan (1983–2009), shot de ...

, the woman who was shot to death in Tehran's street protests after the disputed June presidential elections. In June 2010 the Dutch TV Channel NOS organized a visit for

Ezzatollah Zarghami Sayyid Ezzatollah Zarghami ( fa, سید عزت‌الله ضرغامی) is Iranian conservative politician and current minister of Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism. He is a former military officer. Zarghami was Deputy of Mi ...

, director of

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; fa, صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران, ''Sedā va Sīmā-ye Jomhūri-ye Eslāmi-ye Īrān'', , formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian re ...

, to its headquarters in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hil ...

Radio Zamaneh Radio Zamaneh ( fa, رادیو زمانه) is an Amsterdam-based Persian language exile news platform and former radio broadcaster. "Zamaneh" is the Persian literary term for "time". Radio Zamaneh is an independent Persian-language exile media a ...

revealed this news, creating a wave of anger in the Iranian community. The Hague-based Iranian Progressive Youth Network also published a press release entitled "NOS Welcomes the Terrorist". The event was canceled a few days before the visit. The whole affair was reported in mainstream Dutch media such as ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on ...

''. In 2011, Iran executed

Zahra Bahrami Zahra Bahrami, also spelled Sahra Baahrami ( fa, زهرا بهرامی; 25 January 1965 – 29 January 2011) (Previous name: Zahra Mehrabi), was a dual Dutch and Iranian citizen who was executed in Iran after being arrested during a politica ...

, a naturalised Dutch citizen of Iranian origin, after holding her in prison since 2009 on drugs charges. The Dutch ambassador in Tehran was not allowed to offer her assistance.

Media

In 2004 the Dutch Parliament agreed with the proposal for allocating 15 million Euros to set up a television station, which would broadcast in the

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision of th ...

. This was the first time that a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

country had been involved in establishing a Persian television station on its own. The Persian-language

began operating in Amsterdam in August 2006 with support from the Dutch

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

. The Islamic Republic of Iran has on various occasions criticised the Netherlands for funding the station. During the 2009 public unrest and demonstrations in Iran, Majid Ghahremani, Iranian ambassador to The Netherlands, accused the Dutch government of interfering in Iran's internal affairs. At the same time, a Dutch foreign ministry spokeswoman told Reuters that they had decided to continue to provide funding to the radio station, with the aim of improving the situation of

human rights in Iran From the Imperial Pahlavi dynasty (1925 to 1979), through the Islamic Revolution (1979), to the era of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979 to current), government treatment of Iranian citizens' rights has been criticized by Iranians, by interna ...

. In January 2010 also

Persian Dutch Network Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural ...

has been registered in Amsterdam to introduce Persian culture to Dutch people and make two nations more close to each other. ''PDN'' has also released various videos of cultural events, social gatherings and political demonstrations of Persian community in the Netherlands on the Internet.

Integration and community

Pejman-Akbarzadeh-Persian-Piano-Music-Concertgebouw- Amsterdam-Recital Hall Photo-By-Jos-van-Zetten-2012

Iranians in the Netherlands have founded relatively few community organisations compared to

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

or Moroccan migrants; this may be due to the general atmosphere of distrust and divisiveness among Iranians abroad. In contrast to other migrant groups, there is little sense of community among them. Possibly as a result of this, many Iranians have redirected their ideological energies into participation in mainstream Dutch politics; prominent examples include politician

Farah Karimi Farahnaz "Farah" Karimi ( fa, فرح کريمی; born 15 November 1960 in Hassanabad Yasukand, garuss) is an Iranian-Dutch politician. She was a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands between 1998 and 2006 for GreenLeft. She i ...

of the

GreenLeft GroenLinks (, ) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of th ...

party or commentator and professor

. Women tend to report far lower levels of discrimination than men. However, they still often confront mainstream stereotypes of Muslim women, such as the idea that they are victims of domestic violence in need of emancipation from Muslim men.

Art and culture

* There is an active "Persian Language and Culture" Department at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. * There are Persian artists, writers, musicians, etc. who are active in the Netherlands, among them filmmaker

Reza Allamehzadeh Reza Allamehzadeh ( fa, رضا علامه‌زاده) is an Iranian-born Netherlands, Dutch filmmaker, film critic and writer who lives in the Netherlands. He is primarily known for his films about refugees, such as ''The Guests of Hotel Astoria'' ...

and storyteller

Sahand Sahebdivani Sahand Sahebdivani (born 18 May 1980 in Tehran) is an Iranian–Dutch storyteller, musician and founder of cultural center the Mezrab. Biography After the Iranian Revolution, at the age of three Sahebdivani fled with his parents from Iran t ...

. * In 2006, graphic designer

Reza Abedini Reza Abedini ( fa, رضا عابدینی , born 1967 in Tehran) is an Iranian graphic designer and a professor. His works keep a modern theme as he blends traditional Islamic patterns, calligraphy and culture. He combines simple illustrations wi ...

received 2006 Principal Prince Claus Award. * In the summer 2008 Amsterdam Branch of Hermitage Museum organized the exhibition "Persia: Thirty Centuries of Culture and Art" for six months. * Museum Het Ursulinenconvent – International Museum for Family History / Internationaal Museum voor Familiegeschiedenis in Eijsden, Limburg, has a permanent exhibition on Persian family history and Persian photography. Also in this museum, the harem system is being explained using the Qajar family and dynasty as an example.

Notable people

Ali Niknam Ali Niknam (born December 12, 1982) is a Dutch entrepreneur, book author, founder of TransIP, CEO and founder of bunq. Biography Ali Niknam was born in an Iranian family on December 12, 1982, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. When Ali Niknam was 7 ...

, Entrepreneur, founder of Bunq & TransIp *

Kader Abdolah Hossein Sadjadi Ghaemmaghami Farahani ( fa, حسین سجادی قائم‌مقامی فراهانی, better known by his pen name Kader Abdolah ( fa, قادر عبدالله, links=no) (Arak, 12 November 1954), is an Iranian-Dutch writer, poet ...

, author *

Pejman Akbarzadeh Pejman Akbarzadeh ( fa, پژمان اكبرزاده, born 1980) is a Persian-Dutch pianist, journalist, music historian and documentary maker. Early life Born in Shiraz in 1980, Akbarzadeh had his first music lessons at the age of nine from Ghol ...

, musician and journalist * Sevda Alizadeh, singer *

, filmmaker *

Touraj Atabaki Touraj Atabaki ( fa, تورج اتابکی, born February 23, 1950) is Emeritus Professor by special appointment of Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia at the Leiden University. He was the Senior Research Fellow at the Internationa ...

, Professor of Social History of the Middle East and Central Asia, International Institute of Social History *

, convicted of drug trafficking and executed in Iran in 2011 *

Leo Barjesteh Leonardus Alexander Ferydoun "Leo" Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn (born 18 October 1962 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch-Persian historian, publisher and museum director. In 1988 Barjesteh established himself as an independent publisher, specialising ...

, historian, publisher and museum director *

, university professor *

Reza Ghoochannejhad Reza Ghoochannejhad Nournia ( fa, رضا قوچان‌نژاد نورنیا; born 20 September 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is also known as Gucci in Belgium and Netherlands. Having played for the Nether ...

, footballer *

, politician and former MP *

Biurakn Hakhverdian Biurakn Hakhverdian ( hy, Բյուրակն Հախվերդյան; born 4 October 1985 in Leiden) is a Dutch water polo player who represents the Dutch national team in international competitions. She is of Iranian Armenian descent.

, water polo player, olympic gold medalist and former captain of the Dutch national junior water polo team *

, professor of

hydrogeology Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rock (geology), rocks of the Earth's crust (ge ...

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator m ...

, mixed martial artist *

Ali Foumani ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 common era, CE) was the last of four Rashidun, Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was ...

, art dealer and researcher in Persian Art

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

The Information Center of Persian (Iranian) Community in the Netherlands
(English & Dutch)
Radio Zamaneh website
(English and Persian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Iranians in the Netherlands Ethnic groups in the Netherlands Islam in the Netherlands Muslim communities in Europe Middle Eastern diaspora in the Netherlands

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...