Iran (MNN) — Repercussions are far from over in Iran after a month of deadly protests and government crackdown. The Center for Human Rights in Iran reports mass arbitrary arrests, house raids, denial of legal counsel, forced disappearances, and worse as the regime tries to stamp out remaining opposition.
International tensions continue, too, as the United States moved some military assets toward the Middle East last week. On Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the “violent crackdown on peaceful protests” by Iranian security forces. The Iranian government has rejected this resolution.
Azadi Square, Tehran, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Erfan Ro via Unsplash)
“My concern is, number one, people who are created in the image of God are being killed,” says Fadi Sharaiha with the MENA Leadership Center. “I need to remind us that everyone is created in God’s image.”
U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports 5,848 people killed, with over 17,000 more deaths being investigated, and more than 41,200 arrests. The continued nationwide internet blackout makes verification even harder.
Sharaiha is also concerned that Christians in Iran will be targeted in the crackdown. Not only that, but what happens in Iran affects Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza, and the entire region, he says.
“What is really, I would say, troubling is that we don’t know what will be the final solution between the West and Iran. I mean, on whose expense would it be, the deal? Or if there will be any deal,” he says.
Regime change won’t solve everything
Questions remain on whether the Iranian government will fall. But Sharaiha offers this reality check: “If the regime ceases to exist, what would be the option? What are the options?” he says. “We’re hearing the son of the ex-shah that was thrown off the throne, [Reza Pahlavi]. Now he has good potential, and the hope is that things will go well.”
However, Sharaiha says that in the case of any religious regime, the battle is against thoughts and doctrine (in this case, Islam), not only the army. Change in Iran has a long way to go.
Yet in all the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa today, Sharaiha says, “I need to remind myself every single night that God is sitting on the throne, and God is good. God is sovereign. Whatever is happening is according to His will, and He is Lord of all.”
Find your place in the story
Although true change will take a long time in Iran, there’s something we can do today. “My prayer is that Christians in the West, and whoever is reading this, remind themselves that they have a bigger family,” says Sharaiha. “We are all one family of Christ.”
(Photo courtesy of Zahra Amiri/Unsplash)
Please pray for underground believers in Iran who are in extreme danger. Pray for wisdom for world leaders, and above all, “that God’s name would be glorified, and people will know that God is good and that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is the only One who can bring peace to the families in Iran, to the country of Iran.”
The MENA Leadership Center offers courses and programs tailored to the region, which includes Iran. They recently offered courses on religious persecution and on trauma healing for refugee ministry.
“My prayer and my hope is that at some point we will be helping the church and [able to] strengthen the church in Iran, inside Iran,” says Sharaiha.
Header photo is a representative stock photo from Iran courtesy of Mashid Saberpour via Unsplash.
