The Bishop of Chelmsford, who fled from Iran as a teenager, has denounced the US-Israeli attack on the country as “unjust and illegal”.
The Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani is the daughter of Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, who served as the Anglican bishop of Iran from 1961 to 1990.
The Islamic Revolution of 1979 ushered in an intense period of persecution that persists to this day and had an almost immediate impact on the family. There was an assassination attempt that wounded his wife and just a year later, his son was killed by unknown assailants in Tehran.
Eventually the family were forced to flee, with Bishop Francis-Dehqani leaving the country at the age of 14. Her father continued his ministry work from exile.
In a letter to The Telegraph, the bishop argued, “This is a war of choice rather than necessity. The Iranian regime is odious and repugnant, but it did not pose an imminent threat that justified pre-emptive self-defence. Diplomacy might have been working frustratingly slowly, but it was working. It certainly hadn’t been exhausted.”
She also criticised what she suggested was poor US and Israeli planning in terms of long-term strategy and outcomes.
“The lack of clarity as to the war’s aims, and the absence of any forethought about what comes next, belie the notion that this is either a moral war or a just one," she said.
"International law exists precisely to prevent the use of force in such circumstances. Without it, force prevails, the strong prey on the weak and states routinely act with impunity to resolve their disputes with might. It is a world that invites fear rather than hope.”
In an earlier statement Francis-Dehqani called upon Christians “to pray for the protection of the innocent and for wisdom and sound mind for the political leaders whose decisions have brought about this profoundly dangerous situation”.
