Fortune-tellers popular in Islamic Iran

By Zahra Hosseinian

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Clerics in the Islamic Republic of Iran frown on the practice, but Nazanin says she has more customers than ever wanting their fortunes told.

Sitting behind a computer in her Tehran apartment, she predicts the future based on her knowledge of "jyotish" -- the science of light -- a practice related to astrology which she said is thought to have originated in ancient Persia.

Some analysts say Iranians are turning to fortune-telling because of worries over their country's growing isolation in the world and surging prices at home. The fortune-tellers say their clients -- many of them women -- are seeking security.

"Happiness is the gap between two miseries," said Nazanin, who asked not to be identified by her real name to avoid problems with religious authorities. "People from all walks of life come here to find that ray of light and find more hope for the future."

She often switches off her mobile during sessions to avoid being interrupted by calls for appointments. Each session costs 200,000 rials ($21) and lasts two hours or more. Time -- not demand -- restricts her to two or three customers a day.

It is not only Nazanin who says business is booming.

Readers of tarot cards and coffee grounds say customers are queuing up. Street vendors selling prophetic poems from the revered Iranian poet Hafez say they can always find buyers seeking guidance in their everyday lives.

Iran's clerics, who have ruled the Islamic Republic for the past three decades, say such practices can be misleading so should be avoided.