AS CONFLICT spread across the Middle East after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the weekend, the Archbishop in Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum, condemned the “cycle of violence” that was expanding “with terrifying speed”.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, who was born in Iran and had to flee the country after the 1979 revolution, also spoke of “a degree of horror” and expressed concern for Iran and for the wider region. She questioned whether the US–Israel led war was legal under international law.
On Monday, the Israeli military said that it was striking Hezbollah across Lebanon, after the militant group launched missiles and drones towards Israel in retaliation for the Ayatollah’s killing. Meanwhile, loud explosions were heard across the Gulf cities of Dubai, Doha, and Manama, and in Jerusalem, as Tehran entered into a third day of air strikes against Israel and Gulf neighbours in response to the joint US-Israeli attacks. Agence France-Presse also reported several loud blasts being heard in the Qatari and Bahraini capitals.
In a pastoral letter, Dr Naoum wrote: “Tragically, the cycle of violence has expanded with terrifying speed. In the hours following [Khamenei’s death], Iran launched a widespread reprisal. . .
“Sirens also blared across the Holy Land, warning of incoming missiles from Iran. Suddenly, our people from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf find themselves once again huddled in shelters, fearing for their lives as the shadow of a total regional war looms over us.”
He continued: “These developments strike at the very soul of our Province of Jerusalem & the Middle East. Every single nation now engaged in this combat, and those bearing the brunt of the retaliatory strikes, resides within our ecclesiastical boundaries.
“Our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Iran are currently enduring the terror of aerial bombardment; our members in the Diocese of Cyprus & the Gulf are witnessing the arrival of war at their doorsteps; and our faithful in the Diocese of Jerusalem — extending across Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria — face an unprecedented threat of military escalation.”
Dr Naoum called upon “the global Church” to join “in urgent, unceasing prayer”, and to ask God “to protect the innocent — the mothers, the children, and the elderly”.
He continued: “We pray specifically for a ‘sound mind’ for the leaders of the United States, Israel, and Iran, that they might recognize the futility of this bloodshed and turn back from the precipice of a global catastrophe.”
He called on Christians in the region to be what he described as “bridge builders”. “Even as diplomatic windows seem to slam shut, the Church must keep the doors of reconciliation open.
“We refuse to see our neighbors as enemies, whether they be in Tehran, Tel Aviv, or the military bases of the Gulf.”
The letter was published before President Trump warned on Sunday that combat operations in Iran would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved”. Mr Trump told Fox News that 48 leaders had been killed as a result of US and Israeli strikes on Iran. “It’s moving along. It’s moving along rapidly. This has been this way for 47 years,” he said. “Nobody can believe the success we’re having; 48 leaders are gone in one shot.”
Dr Francis-Dehqani told the Church Times on Monday: “The attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel and the reprisals by the Iranian regime have brought a new wave of fear, uncertainty and in many cases devastation to the people of Iran and the whole Middle East, with more nations and people now being dragged into the conflict.
“While the regime in Iran has done profound harm and is deeply unpopular, and while there will be some renewed hope for change, it is not at all clear where military intervention from the US and Israel will ultimately lead.”
She expressed thanks to Dr Naoum for his letter, and said that she echoed “his call for us to pray for the protection of the innocent, and for wisdom and sound mind for the political leaders whose decisions have brought about this profoundly dangerous situation”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme the previous day, Dr Francis-Dehqani said that she had “immediate concern, but also concern for wider implications over a longer period of time for Iran and for the entire region. . . We all watch and wait with a degree of horror and anxiety.”
While there “won’t be many people shedding tears” over the Ayatollah’s demise, she warned that “the problem is there is no clear, credible person to step into the place who will provide something different.”
She continued: “My concern is . . . we’ll go back to where we were, but under different leadership.”
Describing her “mixed emotions,” she said: “The Americans and the Israelis have said this is a pre-emptive strike. It’s not at all clear pre-emptive against what. There doesn’t seem to have been any imminent risk to the United States, [or] to Israel. So, in that sense this is an unprovoked attack. I’m not at all clear that it sits within international law, so [it’s] another nail in the coffin for the way in which we see international law disregarded.”
The strikes would “wreak havoc” and “bring death and destruction”, she said, both in Iran and the wider region. “On the other hand . . . it’s very difficult not to have even a tiny glimmer of hope that this will see the end of this regime. But that really is far from certain. It’s not clear what the aims of this war were; nor indeed what plans were in place for what will follow. . . I question whether this is law under international law.”
The Pope has expressed his “deep concerns” over the situation. “Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue,” he said during the Sunday Angelus in St Peter’s Square.
The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, Dr Sean Rowe, appealed in a letter on Saturday for prayers “for the people of the Diocese of Iran and for all of the Iranian people”.
He continued: “In recent weeks, we have mourned as the regime in Iran has killed peaceful protesters, and watched with alarm at both its increasing repression of the Iranian people and the escalating response of the U.S. government. As Christians who follow a Prince of Peace, we mourn that today’s attacks will surely mean further hardship for the most vulnerable Iranians and, as retaliation inevitably follows, suffering that will spread across the entire region.”
The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson, said in a statement on Saturday: “The escalation and eruption of a situation of warfare in the Middle East fills our hearts with sadness and with alarm for any and all who are suffering the brutalities of contemporary hostilities.”
The World Council of Churches warned of a “dangerous spiral of violence” that would place “millions of civilians at immediate risk”.
