Class considerations are very important; many people regard it as degrading marrying into classes lower than their own. It is accepted for parents to look for suitable spouses from amongst relatives, friends and people they know and trust. Appropriate candidates will be introduced through such connections and with the young peoples’ approval engagement and marriage will follow. Forced arranged marriages are a thing of past with modern urbanized Iranians. Many young people have no problems with the system but if they make their own choice and the spouse is not approved by the family major conflict is expected. Most Iranians have elaborate weddings and if they follow the traditional system of dowry and bride price the young couple will have to rely on parental financial support at time of marriage. Such practices in turn increases parental control over children. Groom’s family are expected to pay for all wedding expenses and if they do not they will be looked down. Bride’s family on the other hand provides dowry in form of necessary items such as furniture etc. The higher the status of bride and groom the more elaborate are the parties, jewelry, bride price (mahr) dowry etc. Though the younger generations are moving away from such practices nevertheless many Iranians still follow many of these traditions.
Interracial and out of religion marriages vary with different classes and are less common amongst traditional people and on the whole are not very popular. It is a lot more prevalent for males to marry non-Muslim foreigners than for females. This is mostly due to the fact that Muslim women are legally barred from marrying non-Muslims unless if the future spouse converts into Islam. Iranian family and inheritance laws favor males. These issues might create serious problems at times of divorce, custody rights and death.
If marriages are registered with the Islamic authorities the Iranian legislation will be applied to such marriages both in Iran and outside the country. In such cases when divorce occurs, the legal divorce document should be certified and validated at an Iranian consulate or Embassy plus getting an Iranian divorce as well to stop further complications. Children born from non-Iranian fathers even if the father has converted can not became Iranian citizens since it is their fathers’ nationality that matters and not their mothers. They are not able to own property in Iran, have an Iranian ID or passport. Such legislation has created immense problems for the Afghani refugees living in Iran who are married to Iranian women. Their children cannot attend schools since they have no legal status. If holding an Iranian passport, even non-Iranian wives may need their husbands certified permission to travel out of Iran. Father’s permission is also required for minor children traveling. If marrying an Iranian it is best to check all facts with the Iranian consulates before hand and be very clear about such matters.
It has become a common practice for many women to sign a prenuptial agreement with their husbands before or at the time of marriage. Such documents are incorporated in Aghed Nameh or marriage document and contain various articles such as guarantying women/children’s right of travel without the husband’s permission, the right to initiate divorce and custody and property rights at time of divorce. Lawyers and notary publics can process all documentations but they have to be certified by Iranian authorities to be recognized as legal documents. - See more at: http://www.iranchamber.com/culture/articles/codes_behavior.php#sthash.zDYkikx5.dpuf