Khomeini Commemoration Ceremony at St. Sergius Church in Tehran: Loyalty to the System or Systematic Pressure?

St. Sergius Church in Tehran held a commemoration ceremony for Khomeini, but was this ceremony an expression of loyalty to the system or systematic pressure by the regime?

St. Sergius Church in Tehran held a ceremony yesterday, Friday, the 16th of Khordad, on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the death of Ruhollah Khomeini. The ceremony was attended by Commander Mohammad Reza Movahedian, head of the Religious Minorities and Armed Forces Committee of the Khomeini Commemoration Headquarters, and a group of Armenians from Tehran.

The Armenians of Tehran, in addition to reciting prayers at the ceremony, emphasized their commitment to the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic system, and paid tribute to the memory of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. Arakil Galechyan, representative of Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, also expressed appreciation for Khomeini while emphasizing his free thinking.

Commander Movahedian also delivered remarks at the ceremony. While expressing gratitude to the Armenian Apostolic Church council and the Armenian community and referring to the activities of the Religious Minorities Committee, he stated: “In the Religion and Religious Minority Committee of the late Imam’s headquarters, we had two programs: one was the tribute paid by various segments of divine religions on the seventh of Khordad, and the other was programs that various segments independently held to commemorate Imam Khomeini. There was also a program on the 14th of Khordad where the speaker was the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, and leaders of religions and religious minorities were also present.”

According to Commander Movahedian’s statements, Jews held a ceremony at the Yousefabad Synagogue, Zoroastrians at the Arian Fire Temple, and Armenians at the Holy St. Sergius Church in Tehran to commemorate Ruhollah Khomeini. He also added: “Unity among the divine religion committee stems from Islam and the teachings of the Quran. The late Imam said among the leaders of divine religions that monotheism is the religion of all.”

Commander Movahedian’s remarks about unity among religions were made while the Islamic Republic regime, following the victory of the 1357 revolution, carried out the massacre of Christian leaders and citizens, as well as confiscating their property for the benefit of the state. Priest Siyahian, Priest Hossein Ohanyan, Bahram Dehghani, brother of Goli Dehghani, Bishop of the Church of England, and many other Christian citizens who became victims of revolutionary extremism, are all examples of crimes committed by the Islamic Republic against Christians and other religious minorities.

Now, 46 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, not only have these pressures, raids, suppression, and arrests against religious minorities not decreased, but they have increased. Some citizens, even those officially recognized in the Islamic Republic’s constitution, continue to be subjected to raids and suppression by the government under the guise of espionage, apostasy, and deviance. Many examples, such as Hakop Gochumyan, are currently serving time in Islamic Republic prisons.

The claims by regime officials regarding unity among religions in Iran contradict what is actually being shown. Evidence indicates that the Armenian population, as one of the largest Christian communities in Iran, is declining day by day, indicating increased pressure on them and ultimately forced migration.

Before the 1979 revolution, the Armenian population in Iran was approximately 250,000, but according to current statistics, their numbers have dropped to between 50,000 and 60,000. This decline represents the migration of eighty percent of Armenians from Iran, which has resulted from discrimination and personal, religious, and social restrictions.

But now the question is whether the holding of the Ruhollah Khomeini commemoration ceremony at the Armenian church is a display of national unity among religions by the government, or is it systematic pressure and concealment of bitter realities such as discrimination, suppression, detention, exile, and other issues against minorities in Iran?

It should be noted that the aforementioned ceremony at St. Sergius Church in Tehran was held with the presence of a very limited and small number of Armenians, which not only does not represent loyalty to the system, unity, and harmony among religions, but rather provides evidence of systematic limitations and pressures against religious minorities in Iran.