“Inaccurate and misused labels are being used to describe incorrect behaviors by the political authority in light of the security mentality prevalent in both society and state,” Khalaf concluded. “The authorities are comfortable with this illiteracy because it immensely aids them in oppressing any opposed view, especially if it challenges religion, clerics or practices that interfere with public freedoms.”

Indeed, atheism has always been on the radar of Islamic parties' leaders in Iraq. Many of them simply believe atheism is worth fighting and restricting, while some others consider it an attack on the Islamic parties themselves. Iraq's highest authority on Shiite religious and legal matters considers the propagation of atheism a result of political failure in Iraq for more than a decade.