By BosNewsLife Correspondents Eric Leijenaar and Stefan J. Bos
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– Devoted Christians in Iran anxiously awaited the outcome of their country’s presidential elections Friday, June 12, amid hopes a new leader would allow more religious freedom in this strict Islamic nation and end a police crackdown on Christian converts.
Seeking a second term, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was facing a stiff challenge by former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who at least some Christians regard as a reformer and open for change.
Ahead of the ballot, the “climate seriously worsened” for minority Christians, as part of Ahmadinejad’s efforts to gain votes from mainly Muslim voters, said Netherlands-based aid and advocacy group Open Doors, which supports Christians reportedly persecuted for their faith in Iran and other countries.
“Last year at least 50 Christians were detained for shorter or longer periods [and] some of them were seriously mistreated,” Open Doors spokesman Klaas Muurling told BosNewsLife. “The arrests continue. Late May police raided a house church in the town of Karaj.” He said five “secret believers”, or former Muslims, were taken away but there whereabouts remain unknown.
Christian women are also being targeted. Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, were arrested by Iranian security forces March 5 for alleged involvement in anti-government activities. Their supporters say the women are “unfairly labeled” as “anti-government activists” and say their “only crime is that they are committed Christians.”
They were still held at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran Friday, June 12.
PRAYERS URGED
As elections were underway, Open Doors said is has urged its supporters to pray for Iran and its “secret believers” many of whom abandoned Islam and converted to Christianity.
Christian Behrouz, which is not his real name, said he hopes Mousavi will bring more religious freedom to the country. “He is known to be liberal. The parliament and the conservative Guardian Council are strict Islamic,” said Behrouz, who live in Tehran, in comments distributed by Open Doors.
Behrouz said Ahmadinejad has been trying to “buy” votes. “Many state employees received an extra salary this spring and suddenly more support was given to rural villages.”
Yet not all Christians agree, and some said they don’t vote. “Why would I vote?” wondered Christian Heydar, which is not his real name. “The pressure on Christians will remain anyway,” he said in comments obtained by BosNewsLife, adding that Christians also suffered under the previous president, Ali Hashemi Rafsajani. “Rafsajani is more liberal than Ahmadinejad, but more Christians died under his regime,” Heydar said.
POLLING EXTENDED
The Christian spoke before polling was reportedly extended for two hours in Iran to accommodate millions of Iranians who turned out for presidential elections.
Election commission chief Kamran Daneshjoo told reporters the turnout was “unprecedented” after state-run television reported that over five million people cast ballots in just the first four hours of voting, If no candidate gets 50 percent in the first round, the two front-runners will face a run-off vote in one week, observers said.
Christians comprise less than two percent of Iran’s mainly Muslim population of over 66 million people, according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), but some church groups have suggested the figure may be much higher, saying many former Muslims are forced to worship underground.
After North Korea, Iran is the second country with the most “severe persecution” of Christians, Open Doors said.
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