Countless Victims of Persecution in Iran

Under the Iranian regime, nobody is safe from persecution.  Between 1980-1988 at least 20,000-30,000 people have been murdered by the regime.  Religious minorities throughout the region have the boot of the regime on their necks.  Nobody is safe, whether they're Baha'i, Sunni Islam, Christian, Sufi Islam, Atheist, or Shiite dissidents.  People of all walks of life, whether there were of a minority faith, journalists, bloggers, teachers, human rihts activists, environmentalists, even Nobel Prize Winners have faced loss of jobs, denied admission to universities, unjust imprisonment, torture, and death at the hands of the Iranian regime.    

 There are many stories of persecution in Iran that have been told, but many others have not.  Here, I will tell some of what's been going on, much of which has been ignored by both the International Community and Mainstream Media.  

 Christians: Christianity is heavily persecuted in Iran.  While it is estimated that there are between 300,000 to 1 million registered Christians, there may be a million more who have secretly converted throughout the country.  Converts in particular are singled out for imprisonment, torture, and death.  House churches are constantly raided by the authorities and Underground Pastors imprisoned.  Many of the official churches have been forcibly closed and those in operation are under surveillance, making it impossible for converts to go there.  International Christian Concern Founder Jeff King revealed that in Iran, nearly 60% of Christians arrested are sent to the notorious Evin prison, where they endure torture such as solitary confinement, beatings, and rape.  The follow is the testimony of two such torture victims:

  • "The torture hadn't even begun, yet I screamed as I heard the screams of those around me.  I was tied to a bed and the soles of my feet were beaten repeatedly.  I was interrogated from midnight to 5am.  My interrogator finally told me that I had to marry him, or they'd bring my family here and they'd suffer the same fate.  To save my family, I agreed.  I was forcibly married, converted to Islam against my will, beaten, and raped.  I lost my identity, my faith, and my humanity." Victim's Age: 17
  • "I was hung by a chain with my hands behind my back.  My feet were beaten, by teeth knocked out, and I was forced to eat my own excrement.  It was six months before I was finally allowed to see my wife.  She didn't even recognize me."  Christian Prisoner

Baha'is: Steve Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador of Religious Freedom, revealed that Bahai's are not an official religion that is recognized by that State of Iran.  As a result, Iran forbids any house of worship for Baha'is.  Hundreds of Bahai's were executed after the 1979 Revolution.  Over 1200 have been arrested since 2005.  Dozens sit in prisons and the Iranian government has repeatedly seized Baha'i businesses and denied them the right to an education.  

Sufis: The Sufis are traditionally a small, but peaceful sect of Islam.  The Iranian Regime considers them to be "Deviant Muslims" and subjects them to persecution.  Recently, over 200 Sufis were sent to prison after a 15 minute "show trial" which leveled convictions ranging from a few months to 26 years behind bars (Link to Sufi Persecution)

Sunnis: Sunni Muslims represent 5-10% of the Iranian population.  They too have been subject to arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and torture.  Iran has also denied Sunnis the right to build mosques, forcing many to worship in their own homes.  Members of the Sunni-Kurdish minority are especially targeted as the Iranians, knowing that the Kurds long for their own homeland, see them as a threat to their nation.  In one notorious case Kurdish dissident Shirin Alam Hooli was executed by hanging on May 9, 2010 after enduring years of imprisonment and torture.  The judge who ordered her execution was the infamous Judge Salavati, known in Iran as "the Killing Judge."  

Dissidents: Dissidents come from all walks of life, and no dissident is safe.  Female dissidents who protest Sharia are thrown in prison.  One woman who wrote a book condemning the stoning of women was sent to prison in 2015, as was her husband, who suffers from bone cancer.  Homosexual men are hanged.  Even lawyers who try to protect the wrongfully charged are also arrested and sent to prison.  

In Iran, nobody is safe.  Anybody, at any moment, could find the authorities at their door and be taken away, not knowing if they'll ever live to see home again.  

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