The two great enemies for Iran’s government: women and Christians

Marcela Szymanski, editor-in-chief of the Religious Freedom in the World Report, analyzes the situation of this fundamental right in the country

ACN.– Protests continue across Iran against the compulsory wearing of the Islamic headscarf and for justice in the case of Mahsa Amini, a young ethnic Kurdish woman who was killed by the Morality Police while in custody for wearing the veil incorrectly. Already with more than 90 dead in the demonstrations against the harsh repression of the Iranian government. Marcela Szymanski is editor-in-chief of the Religious Freedom in the World Report, edited by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). She has analyzed the situation in this country during the program ‘Trece al día’, of the television channel ‘Trece’: «These protests confirm that for the Iranian government its greatest enemy are women and Christians».

Women in Iran are demanding more equality and rights for all citizens. This equality was a promise of the 1979 Iranian revolution, which is not being fulfilled. According to Szymanski, «Today many women in Iran are seeing that they have no role in social and religious life. However, they are finding a place in the Christian faith. Many are converting to Christianity and creating in their own homes small underground communities. They cannot go to mosques unaccompanied, but they maintain so-called «house churches». They organize their Christian activities inside their homes at frightening risks».

In Iran, according to official figures, there are about 500,000 Christians. However, some sources indicate that this figure could increase to one million. These data are difficult to know because especially converts coming from Islam live their faith in a hidden way. They face years in jail or even death, by their relatives, radical groups and the judicial system based on Islamic law, which condemns to death any Muslim who changes religion. «What is happening is that the mosques are empty and there are a lot of conversions from Islam to Christianity. And especially there are conversions of women. This is the big threat to the Iranian theocratic system. They don’t want it to happen as it has already happened in neighboring countries like Iraq,» Szymanski says.

The Morality Police

In Iran, the policing of dress codes and other precepts based on sharia, or Islamic law, is carried out by the Morality Police. For Szymanski, «This is one of many instruments to impose totalitarian regimes. Since the Iranian revolution there have been popular uprisings to protest against the lack of the promise of equality on which that revolution was based. The name of the country is «Islamic Republic of Iran», which shows that to be a citizen you have to be of a certain religion, otherwise you do not have full rights. And the situation has been getting worse, it is reaching a «Talibanization» of the system. The worst paradox is that the theocratic government of Iran is creating alliances with leftist political movements in the West, creating one of the greatest paradoxes of our days, which aims to subtract freedoms and human rights».

Without full religious freedom

As the specialist in religious freedom also points out, citing the study edited by ACN, in Iran there are tensions between Shiite Muslims – the majority – and Sunni Muslims. This factor must be considered, because Mahsa Amini was Kurdish, who identify with Sunni Islam. «As we gather in our report, the Iranian state has Sunni Muslims and ethnic minorities such as Kurds under scrutiny. This girl came from a region near the border with Iraq, precisely an area where there are many Christians belonging to the traditional Orthodox and Catholic Churches. These Christians have freedom of worship, they have their churches and can celebrate the sacraments there. But they do not enjoy full religious freedom».