Father Jacob Arakelian is a wily old fox, abundant in the charm that can sell the unnecessary to the uninterested with ease. He is 77 and parish priest of the Armenian St Bethlehem Church of New Julfa in Esfahan, central Iran. He hasn't a word of English, yet he convinced everyone in the party of visitors to his church in that beautiful city to buy his latest book - an expensive glossy in three languages, including English.
It is his pictorial guide to the church which was built in 1628 and which is covered in frescos of dubious merit. The wonder is that it, they, and he are there at all in such a predominantly Muslim country.
Of Iran's estimated 69 million people, 800,000 are Christian, making up 0.7 per cent of the population. Of those, 220,000 are Armenian, Iran's largest Christian denomination.
There are an estimated 50,000 Catholics in the country and 25,000 Anglicans. Jews make up 0.3 per cent of the population, Zoroastrians 0.1 per cent and others also 0.1 per cent.
All are superbly muted in a country which is 98.5 per cent Muslim. They have guaranteed rights and reserved seats in the country's 270-member parliament. The Jews, Zoroastrians and Christians have one seat each and the Sunni Muslims have two. Like all such tiny minorities, they have secret grievances, secretly expressed.
An Armenian man, on being assured he would not be named, spoke freely. The Muslims look down on them, he said. They could not get any government jobs and tended to stay among themselves and employ each other.
Since the revolution more and more of them were emigrating - just like the Protestant minority in this State until recently.
"According to the law here if you hit or kill a person, money must be paid to the victim's family," he began. "For a Muslim the compensation is about $10,000 but for an Armenian it is just $100," he said. Generally however religious minorities in Iran experienced no real violence, he said. It was just the attitude.
The Iranians are Shi'ite Muslims. After the death of Mohammed in AD 632 there was a split over who should succeed him. Some felt the leadership should stay in the family and they became known as Shi'ites (from Shi'a, meaning partisans of Ali, Mohammed's cousin).
Others chose to follow the prophet's closest friend, Abu Bakr, and are known as Sunnis.
The Sunni branch is the more "orthodox" and is the one to which most of the Muslim world adheres - except for Iran. Sunnis essentially believe that any Muslim who rules with justice and according to Islamic law is deserving of the entire Muslim community's support.
Shi'ites believe that the descendants of Mohammed, through Ali's line, should lead Muslims and they emphasise the spiritual role of the leader or imam. Some feel this is because Shi'ite leaders have rarely had temporal power.
In doctrinal terms, however, there is little difference between the branches, though Shi'ites pray facing Mecca three times daily and Sunnis five times.
But one of the most fascinating religions in Iran is Zoroastrianism, both because of its unfamiliarity and its being native.
It existed prior to Islam and Christianity and was the official religion of ancient Persia - much of modern Iran. Its symbols still dominate the magnificent remains of Darius's summer palace at Persepolis near the city of Shiraz.
Indeed, it was from those symbols at Persepolis that the Nazis got the swastika. Which brings us to Zarathustra, written of by Nietzche, who so influenced the Nazis in his book Thus Spake Zarathustra.
Some believe Zarathustra, or Zoroaster as he he is also known, was a mythical figure. Others say he was born in 660 BC in what is now Afghanistan. Inevitably though, many places claim to be his birthplace.
He was among the first to promote the idea of one, omnipotent, invisible god and, as such, is seen by some as the father of monotheism, of the concept of almighty god.
Zoroastrians see fire as the symbol of God and keep an "eternal" flame burning in their temples. The religion's main doctrine understands the world as the stage for a constant struggle between good and evil.
Good is personified by the god of lightness, Ahura Mazda (or Ormazd), and evil is personified by the god of darkness, Angro Mainyush (or Ahriman).
Its ideas on the end of the world, heaven and hell, the resurrection of the dead, life after death, the last judgment of the soul, a future saviour born of a virgin who ascends into heaven, and angels who are guardians over man and nature, had a profound influence on Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Its moral teachings can be summarised in the phrase "good thoughts, good words, good deeds". From which, as can be deduced, there is a great emphasis on purity, both inward and outward and to assist with which there is great emphasis on religious purification rites.
Because of this emphasis on purity followers of the religion were not buried, to avoid defiling the earth, or cremated, to avoid polluting the earth. The dead were left on specific hill tops, where the remains were dealt with by vultures. Today, followers are buried in graves lined with concrete to prevent contamination of the earth.
Worldwide there are an estimated 150,000 Zoroastrians. Most are in Iran and most there are in the city of Yazd.
Patsy McGarry is Religious Affairs Correspondent