Persecution and faith in Iran

He speaks here about the harassment the church in Iran is experiencing at the hands of the government and what he is doing to change things from the outside.

CT: You converted to Christianity while you were still living in Iran. Was the church more free back then?

Mansour: I converted in the early nineties and back then the pressure was different but it was still there. The pressure at that time was mainly on the church leadership and those who were in active church ministry like evangelism or teaching. The government had a different strategy - what I would call containment - trying to minimise the effect of the church and the number of conversions. Even back then the church I attended every week had two services on Friday and two on Sunday and they were packed, with around 500 at each one, and around 60 – 80 per cent were from a Muslim background.

There was discrimination in the workplace and in places of study and some did eventually abandon their faith, but the government was much more concerned when someone chose to be a faithful Christian and to get involved with ministry. The government didn’t want to be seen as opposing every single Christian but they had a gradual process of making Christians abandon their faith or at the very least, leave the country.

CT: And how is it today?

Mansour: Now it’s focused much more on individuals as well as the leaders, so we see people who are from smaller congregations and in house churches targeted and under pressure to recant their faith or leave the country. It seems they are panicking that the containment strategy is not working anymore and that the church has gone underground and is meeting in secret and it’s out of their control now.

The Iranian leadership is trying to protect an image that they have created for themselves - that of being a Muslim nation. When many young generations of Iranians are turning to Christ, it’s not good for their reputation.

CT: Do you have any idea how many house churches there are?

Mansour: No, it’s hard to know that because there are many different networks and groups and they are in different places, and they are not visible. It’s difficult for them.

CT: What’s the mood like in the church in Iran right now?

Mansour: They are more security conscious but at the same time they are very determined. Years ago, when the pastors of the church I attended were martyred because of the fact that they allowed Muslims to come to church, I myself and many people there like me were facing the decision of whether to leave the church and save our own lives, or to follow the example of these people and stand for what you believe.

Many of them decided to stay and are in ministry today in one way or another. Those in the house churches are facing the same decisions today and I am glad to see many of them staying faithful and they are even much more positive about the growth of the church in Iran.

CT: So Christians are positive in spite of the pressures?

Mansour: Yes. Many of the Iranian Christians are familiarised with church history and the beloved martyrs of the church. Many of them truly believe in this. So they try to still be good citizens and law abiding and go even above and beyond what the society expects of a good citizen but when it comes to freedom of choice, they believe that nobody in the Iranian government should restrict that.

CT: So they expect hardship to be part of what it means to be a Christian?

Mansour: Yes, these are the things that they learn in their Christian faith. They come with an awareness that making a decision to follow Christ, particularly in their society, can bring them harm. So this is one of the first questions: how do we deal with this? And that’s where their teachers will have to give them an example of Christ.

CT: Do you plan to remain in England or are you going to return to Iran at some point?

Mansour: I would love to but it’s quite risky at this point. Being involved in the work that I’ve been in, I’m known to the Iranian government, so it wouldn’t be so wise at this point in time.

CT: Do you think you would be arrested or detained?

Mansour: Well, the labels that are being used against Christians right now would apply to me – ‘enemy of Islam’. The general governor of Tehran called Christians parasites and said that we are corrupt. That they think like that is quite dehumanising and giving them an excuse to eliminate Christians.

CT: It seems like the government rhetoric is becoming more anti-Christian. Do you think things are getting worse for Christians in Iran?

Mansour: That is one of our major concerns. It’s usually a gradual change in tone and rhetoric that leads to harsher actions and sometimes it’s evaluating what the general public and what the international community’s response is to such rhetoric.

We urge the European Parliament and other parts of the international community to react to this because many years ago, Europe didn’t take anti-Semitic rhetoric very seriously and it witnessed such horrible things in its history because of that. I urge them not to allow this to repeat in Iran.

Because calling Christians terrorists and Wahabis, that they are like the Taliban, parasites and deviant; these are just excuses to dehumanise these people and desensitise the social consciousness when it comes to what happens to these people in the future.

CT: In Egypt and Iraq churches have suffered terrible attacks by extremists, whereas in Iran it is the state persecuting Christians. Do you think that there is a possibility that Iranian Christians might soon start experiencing similar targeted attacks?

Mansour: The general public don’t mind a culture of tolerance developing in the society. I joined an interview with a Muslim intellectual and he was more adamant in supporting the rights of minorities than anyone else. It is in most cases that the government is anti-Christian and they have their own reasons. The concern for what this may bring the church has always been there, but now with this rhetoric developing there is even greater concern. We’ve had a number of arrests of Christians recently, even while they were celebrating Christmas and the birth of Christ, so there is a precedent for arrest now.

Christians are being detained at random and released at random. Some are released after interrogation. There is pressure on them to sign a commitment that they will not be part of any Christian gathering or church or activity. In some cases they even recant their faith and say they are not a Christian. Under those conditions some will be released. Of course the interrogators squeeze them for any information they have about other house churches and who the leaders are. It is usually those who have a leading position in these churches who are kept for a longer time.


CT: They probably don’t come out from prison the same?

Mansour: Yes, I spoke to someone on the phone who was recently released from prison and he talked about how positive he was and uplifted in knowing that many Christians around the world are praying for him. At the same time, usually the effect of so much pressure and emotional, mental and physical abuse shows later on. In the past there has not been so much care in this area. We hope this will improve in the future and that as many people go to prison and endure longer terms of imprisonment there will be more support to help them recover.


CT: You recently made representations at the European Parliament. What was their reaction? Do you see this as a way of changing things from the outside?

Mansour: We are in this position of having the freedom to worship so at the very least I should have the responsibility to care for these people who are voiceless and do whatever is in my power to help them and represent them, in the European Parliament and elsewhere. That’s what we see as our duty.

My experience is that many of the MEPs really do want to help. They were even asking us in what other ways they could help besides issuing statements and sending parliamentarian delegations. One MEP, after hearing the presentation, described it as astonishing. It shocked him to hear the conditions of religious minorities in Iran. The rights of the religious minorities are enshrined in the Iranian constitution but in practice, it’s quite another thing.


CT: Apostasy is also a big issue in Iran.

Mansour: Yes, in the last few years we’ve had some cases where charges of apostasy have been brought against people and then later dropped in the courts. But these cases keep reappearing and it’s unsettling because Iran’s penal code doesn’t have any article explicitly making the death penalty for apostasy necessary. It is usually by certain other methods that they come up with that verdict. In most cases they tend to be freed and the charges are dropped. In other cases, they go ahead with the charges and kill them. One man was hanged earlier this year. He was not a Christian but it goes to show that the Iranian government will still hang people for apostasy, and that should concern everyone.


CT: Is awareness raising a large part of your work?

Mansour: Yes, and that of clearing up misconceptions and misrepresentations. There are representatives in Parliament but they are for Assyrians or Armenians. These ethnic groups are mainly Christian but they do not represent all Christians in Iran. The fact is that they are handpicked by the Iranian government not to represent all Christians but only ethnic minorities and the rights of ethnic minorities are not the same as those of religious minorities.

I would urge MEPs, in their encounters with members of the Iranian Parliament and particularly those supposedly there to represent the Christian minority, to question why it is that they don’t react when Christians are described as enemies of Islam or parasites. They should at least raise concerns in the parliament. Continuing the pressure on the Iranian government may bring some change.

CT: It seems like with the arrests of Christians, the government is more hostile than ever. Is pressure from the international community the only way to bring about any real change in this situation?

Mansour: It’s not the only way but it can help to ease the pressure. The church in general, Christians around the world, in their dialogue with Iran and other groups, and Iranian Muslims who dialogue with Christians can raise this issue.

The Iranian president wrote to the Pope and said we are ready to oppose injustice in the world and the Pope responded by saying that protecting the rights of the individual would be a first step in that. Leading members of congregations and churches should voice their concern and have concern about the situation of our brothers and sisters in Iran. So far we’ve had a couple of organisations such as the World Evangelical Alliance and Assemblies of God issuing statements but we hope to see more churches of different backgrounds really pick up on this and write to the Iranian government expressing their concern.

CT: How can Christians in the UK support your ministry and believers in Iran?

Mansour: Something that is very encouraging to Christians in Iran is to pray for them. They really appreciate that. But also, speak. Speak to your church, speak to representatives in Iran, write letters to your MPs asking what action is being taken to help these people and to react when something happens. It can be easy to accept it as a norm - ‘well it happens in Iran, tough’. But it can change if we all are determined to do something. Writing one single letter, gathering signatures, it can all help. Starting with that, we can make a difference.