"Dariovush Azizian": Iranian Christians acted effectively against the enemy's cultural and psychological conspiracies

At the religious minorities meeting, Dariavush Azizian spoke about the effective performance of Iranian Christians against the enemy's cultural and psychological conspiracies.

On Thursday, March 29, a meeting was held with the head of the judiciary, along with representatives of religious minorities in West Azerbaijan Province, and a group of clerics and seminary students. Dariavosh Azizian, pastor of the East Assyrian Church in Urmia, said in the meeting, while referring to the prominent role of Iranian Christians during the Iran-Iraq War: “The Iranian Christian community offered the country many martyrs and veterans during the Holy Defense, and even after the end of the war, they were present with all seriousness in the reconstruction and development of the country and in confronting the enemies’ soft war.

"By utilizing their resources, Iranian Christians have acted effectively against the enemy's cultural and psychological conspiracies and have shown that they are always on the side of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian people."

The term "soft war" in official Iranian government discourse refers to activities such as Western cultural influence or the weakening of Islamic values. Pastor Azizian, the representative of Christians in Urmia, did not provide any explanation in his speech about the nature of this war or the presence of Christians in neutralizing it, and his remarks about "Christians confronting the enemies' soft war" remained ambiguous.

This lack of transparency regarding the soft war comes at a time when the Christian community in Iran is considered a religious minority and has in fact been a victim of government policies in various religious and cultural areas, and the government has repeatedly taken advantage of the minority community, especially Christians, in various relationships for its own benefit.

The Iranian government's restrictive policies include a ban on publishing the Bible in Persian, pressure on Muslim citizens who have converted to Christianity, and restrictions on holding Armenian religious ceremonies in languages ​​other than Armenian. All of these are red lines of the Iranian government against religious minorities.

In addition to the above-mentioned cases, after the victory of the Islamic Republic Revolution in 1979, many Christians were killed in horrific ways, their property was confiscated, and many were forced to emigrate. This immigration continues, as a result of the restrictions that have been imposed on Christians in the past.

Pastor Azizian's remarks come at a time when representatives of religious minorities in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, despite having a specific position, have limited power and many key positions in the country's political and administrative structure are inaccessible to them. In fact, the minority community does not have the opportunity to truly participate in the country's macro-political and administrative levels, and only occasionally does the Iranian government prominently highlight the presence of religious minorities, especially Christians, in elections or on special occasions, in an attempt to portray an image of a society in which all people, regardless of religion, participate together in the structure of government and society and are equal.

Pastor Azizian, who referred to the historical role of Christians in Iran in his speech, raised questions about whether they, despite their historical loyalty and participation in defending the country, also enjoy equal rights and freedom of expression, because the Islamic Republic system has strictly prohibited the independent cultural activities of this community in interaction with Persian speakers, especially with Muslims who have converted to Christianity.

In this regard, we can mention the former leader of the Assyrian Church of Iran, Pastor Victor Bettemers. He and his wife were accused of “acting against national security” in 2014 and sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison. He served in the Assyrian Pentecostal Church located in Shahra-e-Aray, Tehran. The church was recognized by the Iranian government until 2008, but was closed in March 2008 by order of the Ministry of Intelligence, because the church’s services were held in Persian.

In this regard, "Yonatan Batkelia," the then Assyrian representative in parliament, also stated: "The closure of the Pentecostal Church in Shahr-e-Ara was ordered by the Islamic Revolutionary Court because their ceremonies were held in the presence of Christian converts from Islam and in the Persian language."