The Islamic Republic of Iran, a record holder in the persecution of Christians

Reports submitted to the British Parliament revealed a record of persecution of Christians by the Islamic Republic.

Mansour Borji, director of Article 18, an organization that supports the rights of Iranian Christians in London, spoke with Iran International about the situation of Christians in Iran and the pressures placed on them by the Islamic Republic.

In response to the question, "What is the reason for the organized persecution of Christians by the Islamic Republic?", he said: "Iran is among the countries that are signatories to several important human rights documents, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which also guarantee freedom of religion and belief, and Iran has accepted these principles without any conditions."

But on the other hand, it is also a contradiction, because a system that sees its legitimacy as based on people's adherence to a particular religious view cannot recognize these rights enshrined in these documents. The rights that allow every citizen to choose their own religion or belief, not just as a personal belief, but as a belief that they can express and proclaim in public, cannot tolerate this.

That is why those who step outside the confines of the Islamic Republic, whether Christians or followers of other religions, even those who do not believe in God, may be attacked by the Islamic Republic. The statistics cited in the new report are evidence of this. We believe that the affairs of the people of Iran, you, me, and every other Iranian, have a fundamental right that has been taken away from them, and that right is to have the beliefs and convictions of our own choosing, and when this right is demanded and they are asked to act on it, that is when they face repression.

"263 years in prison were issued to 96 Christians in one year, which is a six-fold increase compared to the previous year and indicates that the Islamic Republic is reacting to the wave of rights and justice that Iranian Christians, in particular, are part of."

He also responded to the moderator's question about whether the Islamic Republic is seeking to destroy Iran's minorities, given the decline in the number of Christians in Iran. He added: "First, I must correct that the aforementioned statistics are related to the census of the Islamic Republic system, in which people are not free to express their beliefs. Another point is that they refer to official minorities, meaning minorities that are recognized by the constitution, including Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians of Armenian and Assyrian descent. But now, the growing wave of conversion to Christianity in the last few years has made Christian converts one of the largest, I emphasize, the largest religious minority in Iran, which has never been mentioned and is not mentioned. In general, one of the reasons for the Islamic Republic's confrontation and suppression of this movement and the wave of Iranians' conversion to Christianity is due to this issue. Therefore, the suppression is largely due to the growth of Christians in Iran, not their decrease in number."