NON-MUSLIMS PAY THE PRICE OF PERSECUTION IN THE OXYMORONIC "ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN"

Visiting Iran just before the Islamic takeover, I was struck by the widespread societal discontent, aimed chiefly at the Shah and his family.  There were several days when I did not venture far afield, because of large and tumultuous demonstrations.  By December of 1978, after I had taken an academic position in Saudi Arabia, the demonstrations had gotten larger and larger, finally forcing the Shah to leave the country.  Subsequently,  Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran to widespread rejoicing in the streets.  Very quickly, the executions and repression that would be the hallmarks of the new Islamic regime

MASS HANGING OF BAHA'IS IN BRUTAL EVIN PRISON

 were begun, and a virtual reign of terror for non-Muslims was set in motion.  Iran had traded the frying pan of the Shah for the fire of Shia Islam.

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN EVIN PRISON

Today, after 35 years of Islamic rule, nothing has changed for non-Muslims.  If one wants a case history of what it would be like for a fundamentalist Islamic regime to come to power, there is no better place to start than with the Islamic Republic of Iran, where human rights violations are a way of life.

ZOROASTRIAN FIRE TEMPLE

One religion in particular in Iran, the Baha'i faith, has been singled out for what would essentially be extermination.  Lacking government recognition and viewed by the mullahs as apostates, Baha'is lack basic access to education, housing, and employment. Even small Baha'i commercial endeavors are shut down; and, since 1978, well over 200 Baha'is have been executed after having charged with undetermined criminal acts. In their typically imperious manner, authorities in Iran think nothing of confiscating Baha'i property, and either imprisoning or turning the former owners out into the streets.

Although Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians are officially recognized by the government, their lot is far from being an agreeable one. Zoroastrianism, Iran's oldest religion, has been singled out as being a "seditious group," and religious police are assigned the duty of constant surveillance of adherents and temples.  Zoroastrian complaints of abuse inevitably result in arrests and imprisonment.

IRANIAN JEWS IN TEHRAN

PASTOR SAEED ABEDINI AND FAMILY

At the end of the 1940's, there were probably 150,000 Jews in Iran.  Today, there are approximately 8,500, most of whom live in Tehran. With a government which is officially anti-Semitic and denies the Holocaust, the lives of Iran's few remaining Jews are severely circumscribed by overt persecution.  After the revolution, charges of Jewish espionage for Israel were commonplace, resulting in several executions of Jews.  As for the future of the Iranian Jewish community, its numbers will likely continue to dwindle until Judaism  is non-existent.

Within the last two years, hundreds of Iranian Christians have been imprisoned, among them Pastor Saeed Abedini, a convert from Islam who has been an American citizen since 2010. After returning to Iran during 2012 to participate in various assistance and service projects and to visit family members, Pastor Abedini was tried and sentenced for 8 years in notorious Evin Prison, where he has undergone torture and
solitary confinement.
                                                                                                       

ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH IN TEHRAN

Earlier in May of this year, word was received that authorities had burst into a service held by an Assembly of God congregation and arrested its pastor, Robert Asserian.  Official government policy is that the congregation must conduct its services in Armenian and not in Farsi, for fear that Farsi services would attract converts from the majority Shia Muslim population.

Since the Islamic regime came to power, executions, kidnappings and

IRANIAN CHRISTIAN BEATEN FOR HER FAITH

murders have been standard fare for Christians.  With recent developments, it would appear that more of the same is in store for the Christian community.

If one defines "Republic" after Mr. Webster, the travesty that masquerades under the name of "Islamic Republic of Iran," is a massive incongruity and contradiction of terms.  However, for Muslim fundamentalists who prefer oppression to freedom and tyranny to liberty, it could be a veritable paradise on earth.  Perhaps, dear readers, those politicians who are purveyors of political correctness and multiculturalism should keep this in mind when they consider the consequences of Muslim immigration into the Western world.