Organized Suppression of Christian Citizens and Security Narrative by the Government

Security narrative-making and organized suppression of Christian citizens were once again revealed in recent statements by the adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Recent statements by “Brigadier General Jabari,” adviser to the commander-in-chief of the IRGC, have once again exposed a clear picture of the government’s security-oriented perspective toward certain segments of society; a perspective under which citizens with different religious orientations have for years been subjected to pressure, accusations, and continuous suppression.

Jabari, speaking at the eleventh “International Conference on Human Rights: American Perspective from the Viewpoint of the Leader of the Revolution,” claimed the widespread presence of Jewish and Christian minorities “sympathetic to the system,” but immediately contradicted himself by mentioning the arrest of a group he called “Christian servants.”

In his speech, he stated: “Our intelligence service arrested a number of Christian servants who were previously Muslim and had been attracted by the enemy.”

This statement, which goes beyond a mere claim, demonstrates a systematic security approach against citizens whose personal religious choices are not recognized. The government ostensibly speaks of “religious coexistence” but in practice, any citizen who steps outside the official religious framework is quickly placed within the scope of security accusations. While government officials constantly speak of religious freedom and peaceful coexistence of religious minorities, file-building against citizens under vague titles such as “contact with the enemy” or “being recruited” has become a recurring process.

In independent international reports, it has been repeatedly emphasized that citizens who decide to change their religion, particularly those who convert to Christianity, face unlawful detention, intelligence pressure, and severe convictions. Adding these citizens to the list of “security threats” not only violates freedom of conscience but also replaces security files with civic rights.

Jabari further, in his continuing remarks, bundled together a large set of groups, monarchists, and Kurdish parties through to ISIS in a single package and claimed a 12-hour meeting of theirs in Europe under the direction of Trump and Netanyahu. This style of security narrative-making has been used for years as a tool to justify internal pressure and suppression of dissent.

Meanwhile, citizens who have chosen religious heterodoxy are the easiest targets for the security apparatus; because unlike political groups, they lack the means for media or organizational defense, and any personal orientation of theirs is introduced as “a tool of the enemy.”

Claims of “spending $25,000 to train ruffians” or “ISIS planning to attend a joint meeting with government opponents,” without presenting documentation, alongside the claim of arrests of what he called “servants,” are part of a repeated pattern that deliberately blurs the line between actual crime and government accusation-making.

In such an environment, a citizen who simply has a different religious choice is viewed by the security apparatus as being at the level of fundamental threats to the country; a process that is incompatible with any human rights standard, even with what the government itself claims in official speeches.

Recent statements by Brigadier General Jabari show that the Islamic Republic’s security apparatus continues to view citizens who have stepped outside the official religious framework not as individuals with the right to choose, but as “targets” and “threats.” While the government claims the “sympathetic presence of religious minorities,” citizens with different religious orientations are under the heavy shadow of suppression, arrest, and file-building.

This contradiction, more than anything, demonstrates the government’s structural fear of personal freedom and religious diversity, a fear that continues to lead to the production of security files against these citizens.