THE US-Israeli strikes on Iran constitute “an operation aimed at the liberation of the Iranian people”, a group of Iranian Christians has told the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani.
In a letter made public last Saturday, they write: “As Christians, we do not support war easily and continue to value peace above all. Yet, in this context, we regard this operation as a means of rescuing the Iranian nation from a repressive regime. This step may ultimately pave the way for lasting peace in the Middle East, a region that has long suffered from conflict.”
The letter, signed by 40 Iranian Christians living in the UK, was sent to the Bishop in response to her recent letter to The Daily Telegraph, which described the war as “unjust and illegal”.
“This is a war of choice rather than necessity,” she wrote. “The Iranian regime is odious and repugnant, but it did not pose an imminent threat that justified pre-emptive self-defence. Diplomacy might have been working frustratingly slowly, but it was working. It certainly hadn’t been exhausted.
“The lack of clarity as to the war’s aims, and the absence of any forethought about what comes next, belie the notion that this is either a moral war or a just one. International law exists precisely to prevent the use of force in such circumstances. Without it, force prevails, the strong prey on the weak, and states routinely act with impunity to resolve their disputes with might. It is a world that invites fear rather than hope.”
Dr Francis-Dehqani was born in Iran and came to the UK as a teenage refugee in 1980, in the wake of the Islamic Revolution. Her letter was written in response to an article in the Telegraph by the theologian Lord Biggar which mentioned the killing of her brother, Bahram Dehqani-Tafti. His killing had prompted the family to flee the region (News, 19 January 2024). Lord Biggar, like the Iranian Christians, argued that wars not upheld by international law could “still be morally right”.
In her letter, Dr Francis-Dehqani said that her brother would be “horrified at the terror that has been unleashed by this war”.
The Iranian Christian signatories describe themselves as people who have “lived under, or been forced to flee from, the Islamic Republic”. They include asylum-seekers, refugees, and British citizens. Some originally sought asylum because of their conversion to Christianity in Iran, while others fled for political or cultural reasons. The letter was published on the website of St Chad and St Mark, Wolverhampton, which is part of the Welcome Churches network welcoming refugees. It acknowledges that, within the Iranian community, “experiences and views are diverse.”
“We understand and respect your concern for justice, restraint, and the importance of international law,” they write to the Bishop. “These are principles that Christians rightly hold in high regard. Yet for many Iranians, the present conflict cannot be understood apart from the long and painful history of violence that the Islamic Republic has inflicted upon its own people for more than four decades.”
They highlight the recent killing of protesters (News, 16 January) — the latest in a pattern of “waves of protest across recent decades, each met by the authorities with lethal force, mass arrests, and executions”.
“In the present moment, Iranians both inside and outside the country experience a mixture of emotions: fear for their families, uncertainty in the face of war, and yet also a fragile hope that the system responsible for so much suffering may finally be approaching its end,” they write.
“We do not view this as a war against Iran, but rather as an operation aimed at the liberation of the Iranian people. As the governments of the United States and Israel have repeatedly and publicly stated, this conflict is not directed against the people of Iran. Evidence from the past few days clearly shows that only the regime’s centres of repression and military infrastructure have been targeted, creating conditions in which the Iranian people may take control of their own government.”
The letter goes on to explore the “deeper moral dimension of such realities” and the long history of “coexistence and mutual respect” between the Iranian and Jewish peoples, drawing attention to the story of Cyrus, the Persian king, used by God as “an instrument through which the Jewish people were allowed to return from exile and rebuild Jerusalem.
“For this reason, many Iranians perceive a profound historical irony in the present moment. Just as a Persian ruler once played a role in the liberation of the Jewish people, some now hope that the current events may open a path toward the liberation of the Iranian people themselves, and that, in time, a more lasting peace may emerge in a region that has suffered for far too long.”
The group writes of praying for freedom from persecution.
“We offer these reflections with sincere respect for your ministry and with awareness of your family’s painful history in Iran,” the letter concludes. “We write after listening carefully to the voices of many within our community who carry both the wounds of Iran’s past and a deep hope for its future.”
In a response, on Monday, Dr Francis-Dehqani wrote of the “profound love and esteem in which I hold you. . . We all share the same longing and hope for change. And we are united through our faith in Christ Jesus.
“I also recognise within myself and more widely the mixture of emotions you describe Iranians experiencing at this time — fear and uncertainty alongside a fragile hope that this attack will bring about the change we long for.”
There was “so much in your letter with which I agree wholeheartedly”, she wrote. The Islamic Republic’s “brutality is shocking and repugnant”. But differences of perspectives arose when it came to the legal status of the war under international law “and whether or not it can be morally justified”.
“My concern is that it will fail to bring about the change you and I hope for,” she continued. “History has shown us that previous attempts at western intervention in Iran and across the Middle East have not ended well.”
Read the Bishop’s letter in full here.
