The answer given by His Eminence, Ayatollah Mahdi Hadavi Tehrani (may Allah grant him long life) is as follows:

1. Any kind of relations between the opposite genders that entail evil and sins such as lustful look or physical contact are haram except for when they are Mahram to each other.

2. It is haram for two individuals from the opposite gender to seek any kind of pleasures from each other except through temporary or permanent marriage.

3. There is no problem in the friendship between two opposite genders, if it does not entail any evil and if