Gambling is illegal in Iran, but there are luxurious underground casinos fully equipped for card games. Interestingly, many famous athletes, artists, and even politicians—who publicly condemn gambling—can often be seen in these underground venues.
One cannot deny Sharia law is heavily applied in Iran, as it is a Islamic republic. I would have expected some small underground casinos to exist there, out of the knowledge of authorities in charge of prosecuting any behavior which goes against their religion, but what you are claiming goes far beyond that and it would implicitly involve high authorities within the regime of Iran, because some big underground and luxurious casino cannot keep and stay hidden alone.Would you care to share where you got that information from? Are you from Iran and you have personally heard about these rumors?
If you have some news articles to support those things you are saying, I would be glad if you shared them with us, as it would be quite a big scandal for a Islamic regime to be unmasked as keeper of gambling places and facilities, while punishing those in their common population who wished to gamble.
Yes, I live in Iran. Forty-six years ago, when a major uprising occurred in Iran and the country fell into the hands of Shiite Islamists, activities such as playing backgammon and even chess carried severe punishments. But now, there are official federations for both chess and backgammon operating in Iran. Before the COVID pandemic, I had a travel agency in one of the wealthiest parts of Tehran, and many officials and their children were my clients.
During Ahmadinejad’s presidency, a large sum of money went missing from the National Olympic Committee. At the exact same time, the son of the president of Iran’s Olympic Committee, along with five others, purchased a travel package to Northern Cyprus from me. While there, through our local tour guide, they were taken to one of the major casinos in Cyprus, where they lost over $800,000 in one night.
Yes, in Iran, the operation of underground and online casinos is not possible without the regime’s support. Let me give you a simple example: there is an online casino operating in Iran where, in addition to cryptocurrency, financial transactions are conducted using the regular bank cards of the Islamic Republic. These casinos have been active for over 15 years. Do you really think such an operation could exist without regime support?
Sharia law is a good tool to deceive the ignorant masses, but fortunately, the new generation of Iranians no longer falls for these lies, and soon, major changes will take place in Iran.