A Judiciary reporter converted to Christianity

Mehdi Dehghan, former economic secretary of the Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the judiciary, became a Christian yesterday by being baptized.

According to a reporter from the Voice of Iranian Christians, Mehdi Dehghan, who was forced to leave Iran due to increased security pressures and threats, officially became a Christian yesterday by being baptized in a church in Germany.
Mehdi Dehghan has a background in working for the newspapers Shargh, Taser, and Tehran Emroz, as well as the IRNA and Mehr news agencies.

In an interview with a reporter from the Voice of Christians of Iran, Dehghan said: "Sunday was the day I was born again with baptism."

He pointed out that the Christian faith brings peace, tranquility, and friendship, and added: "I studied parts of the Bible with the help of a priest and Christian theology students. In one part of the Bible, it says, 'Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.' If all countries in the world follow this, we will witness a peaceful world."

The former economic chief of Mizan News Agency stated: "The second beautiful sentence of the Bible is: Do not be in the understanding and comprehension of a child, but be in the evil of a child. On the contrary, be mature in understanding and comprehension. I hope this sentence will be taken into consideration by some Iranian officials."

Dehghan added: "Those who have lived in Muslim countries understand well the tranquility, peace, friendship, and freedom in Christianity."

He continued: "When I lived in Iran, due to the persecution, violence, harassment, and restrictions I experienced from Muslims and the Islamic government, and the complete recognition I gained of the true face of Islam in Qom, I preferred not to have any religion, but I did not have the courage to express it, because if they had mercy on my life, the least harm would have been unemployment or imprisonment."

This economic reporter said: "When I started working at Mizan News Agency, I did not talk about religious beliefs at all, but employees had to maintain a religious appearance. For example, women had to wear a veil and short-sleeved clothing, and jeans were prohibited for men. Of course, I also noticed that Keshdar, the CEO of Mizan News Agency, also drinks alcohol. The reason for this was that I was familiar with the place where he prepared alcoholic beverages."

Stating that Muslims only claim to be good and perfect, he said: "I cannot understand why there is so much resistance to understanding from some people." In Iran, I always heard a clichéd statement, which was that Islam is good, it is just not implemented correctly, but the truth is that a religion that is not implemented correctly is the biggest problem and flaw in itself.

He added: "Unfortunately, over the past years, they have worked on people's behavior and beliefs in such a way that today, even if people want to think contrary to their beliefs, they feel fear and guilt."

Islam is like a tea bag in the throats of young people
This economic reporter, stating that Islam and the Islamic government of Iran can be summarized in a few words: violence, war, sex, and money, added: Islamic Iran is trying to show a calm and positive image of itself in the world, but official and unofficial statistics and the government's behavior towards its people say something else. Today, in Iran, Islam is forced down people's throats like a tea bag, some of whom have stomach ulcers and have turned sour, and some have stomachs that are used to it, and if anyone objects to this issue, the end result will be execution, imprisonment, and ruin of life.

He said: "When I was a journalist in Qom for two years, I attended a meeting of Mohammad Saeedi, the custodian of the shrine, or the famous "Ya Ali," in which two issues were raised. The first was the women selling socks around the shrine who were actually selling socks and were actually prostitution. The second issue was the increase in atheism among young people or their inclination towards Christianity. Of course, this issue was also raised in the meeting of the Teachers' Association, which Ka'bi and Ahmad Khatami were also present, but reporters were not allowed to cover its outcome.

He continued: "In this meeting, Saeedi criticized the increase in the number of young people and their inclination towards Christianity, especially in the north of the country, saying, 'We need to think about this issue.'" He added, "Also, the women selling socks around the shrine are practically prostitution, and the presence of these people around the shrine is not appropriate."

Dehghan said: "It seems that the Islamic government has given this issue some thought, as evidenced by the increase in arrests, executions, and persecution of people for their religious beliefs. According to published statistics, Iran ranks ninth in the world in suppressing Christians."

He added: "Also, on the one hand, house churches are increasing in Iran, especially in Karaj, and on the other hand, security and law enforcement agencies are seeking to close churches and arrest Christian missionaries and converts."

The former secretary of the news agency affiliated with the judiciary stated: "The speed of the execution and arrest machine of Iranian citizens due to religious beliefs has increased in recent months, as exemplified by the execution of 20 Sunni Kurds or the arrest of three Christian citizens from the Republic of Azerbaijan for attending a house church in Karaj along with 10 Iranian Christians."

Islam is a religion that interferes in people's lives.
Stating that Islam is a religion of interference in people's lives, violence, and destruction, he added: "Today, Iran's religious leaders allow themselves to impose a version of Islam on all the Muslim and non-Muslim people of Iran and to interfere in even the smallest personal issues of the people."
He said: "In every country where Islam has entered, we have witnessed unfortunate consequences. To prove the truth of this statement, we can observe the situation and times of Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc."

Dehghan raised the question of why millions of Iranian citizens should be forced to leave their homeland due to religious issues, adding: "After thousands of years, we still have to witness the repetition of historical mistakes due to unnecessary prejudices, hoping for a day when no one consciously or unconsciously resists understanding."

Source:VOCIR