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August 6, 2007

Iran's Iron Fist

The mullahs are cracking down (once again) on dissent.

Stan Guthrie

Iran's nuclear ambitions are just one aspect of the mullahs' iron-fisted approach to maintaining their power. According to an article in the Monday Wall Street Journal (entitled "Domestic Terror in Iran"), the powers that be that run the Islamic Republic are cracking down against "anti-Islam hooligans," as well as "trade union leaders, student activists, journalists and even mullahs opposed to the regime." After describing the recent public execution of seven men, the author, Amir Tahiri, states:

"The Mashad hangings, broadcast live on local television, are among a series of public executions ordered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month as part of a campaign to terrorize an increasingly restive population. Over the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executed, including four who were stoned to death. According to Saeed Mortazavi, the chief Islamic prosecutor, at least 150 more people, including five women, are scheduled to be hanged or stoned to death in the coming weeks.

"The latest wave of executions is the biggest Iran has suffered in the same time span since 1984, when thousands of opposition prisoners were shot on orders from Ayatollah Khomeini."
...
"The campaign of terror also includes targeted 'disappearances' designed to neutralize trade union leaders, student activists, journalists and even mullahs opposed to the regime. According to the latest tally, more than 30 people have 'disappeared' since the start of the new Iranian year on March 21. To intimidate the population, the authorities also have carried out mass arrests on spurious grounds.

"According to Gen. Ismail Muqaddam, commander of the Islamic Police, a total of 430,000 men and women have been arrested on charges related to drug use since April. A further 4,209 men and women, mostly aged between 15 and 30, have been arrested for 'hooliganism' in Tehran alone. The largest number of arrests, totaling almost a million men and women according to Mr. Muqaddam, were related to the enforcement of the new Islamic Dress Code, passed by the Islamic Majlis (parliament) in May 2006."

According to Iranian Christians International, there are more than 6,700 Muslim converts to Christ among the 65 million people living in Iran (and perhaps 15,000 Iranian Christians of Muslim background worldwide). One wonders whether they are also being caught up in the terror campaign. An estimated seven Christians have been martyred there since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Certainly the entire country can use our prayers.

posted by Stan Guthrie | Comments (2)

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I appreciate hearing news items about activities in foreign countries and issues there we ought to be concerned about. I feel we need to talk about Iran, Darfur, and many other areas, but especially Iraq. I don't see much in our Christian press about Iraq.

The general U.S. news media continues to report almost daily on the number of U.S. casualties - over 3500 dead and more than 25,000 wounded. While this is disturbing, they should also report daily on the total number of Iraqi dead and casualties - several hundred thousand dead and about a million wounded to date. That's about 5% of their population - like us having $15 million casualties. This type of reporting would help us to better judge the situation there.

According to a new report from Oxfam and a coalition of Iraqi Non-Government Organizations (NGO), it suggests that 70% of Iraq's 26.5 million population are without adequate water supplies. Only 20% have access to effective sanitation. Nearly 30% of children are malnourished, a sharp increase on the situation four years ago. Some 15% of Iraqis regularly cannot afford to eat. The report also said 92% of Iraq's children suffered from learning problems. It found that more than two million people have been displaced inside the country, while a further two million have fled to neighbouring countries - that's like 30 million American being forced to leave our country. Meanwhile, the US agency overseeing reconstruction in Iraq said economic mismanagement and corruption were equivalent to "a second insurgency".

Are we continuing to have real success and progress in Iraq? Should we stay or leave. These are ethical decisions that we need to weigh in on and discuss openly in the church, just as we should talk about Iran and other countries. Then we can each get involved politically and vote as we see fit.

Posted By: Peter Groen | August 7, 2007 8:26 AM

I'd love to see the source of this "118 people in 6 weeks". It's being bandied about, but no one has pointed me to a source. Where is this figure arising?

Posted By: Beetle | August 9, 2007 10:10 AM