wfn.org | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Appeals to Iran to Investigate Death

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

of Pastor 31-October-1996 
 
 
96438        Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Appeals to 
               Iran to Investigate Death of Pastor 
 
                          by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has appealed to both 
religious and political leadership within the Islamic Republic of Iran to 
investigate the death of a 35-year-old Assemblies of God pastor in the 
northern part of the country.  
 
     The body of Mohammed Bagher Yousefi was found hanging from a tree in 
the forest near the town of Ghaem-Shahr on Sept. 28 -- the seventh 
Christian pastor to die since the Islamic revolution in 1979. 
 
     "We appeal to you to use the full authority of your government to 
investigate these crimes thoroughly, to bring the perpetrators to justice 
and, above all, to provide all protection mandated by Islam itself and by 
all decent societies," the text of the PC(USA) letter reads.  It is signed 
by Moderator John M. Buchanan, Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and Interim 
Director of the General Assembly Council Frank Diaz. 
 
     The appeal was sent Oct. 3 to Ayatollah Ali Ruhollah Khomeini and 
President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in Tehran and to United Nations 
ambassador H.E. Kamal Kharrazi in New York City. 
 
     "We know there is harassment [of Christian leaders in Iran]," PC(USA) 
Middle East liaison Victor Makari told the Presbyterian News Service.  "And 
we know [that] as a result of harassment, there is a tremendous amount of 
fear ... but we do not know who is doing the harassment and I'm not ready 
to point a finger at the government or anyone else in absence of 
substantial information." 
 
     Makari said that outsiders can "only guess" at the reasons for 
Yousefi's death, citing possibilities from disgruntled neighbors to 
opposition groups within the republic. 
 
     That is how World Council of Churches (WCC) executive secretary for 
interreligious relations Tarek Metri of Lebanon surveys the situation too. 
Metri's office has corresponded with both the United Nations and the 
Islamic Republic of Iran's Embassy, both in Geneva. 
 
     Metri said that a 12-member WCC delegation is planning to meet with 
religious scholars in Tehran in late November and that questions 
surrounding the case may be raised outside the meetings. Makari and WCC 
executive secretary for international affairs Dwain Epps, also a PC(USA) 
member, are scheduled to be part of the delegation. 
 
     This is the first WCC delegation scheduled to go to Tehran since the 
revolution. 
 
     Calling attention to the deaths of other Christian ministers, the 
PC(USA) letter to Iranian officials raises questions about "the security of 
religious miniorities in Iran" and describes the PC(USA) as "outraged, not 
just because Mr. Yousefi was a Christian martyred for his faith, but for a 
crime committed, systematically it appears, against humanity and against 
the human and religious rights of a minority that wants only to love 
neighbor and to live humbly before God." 
 
     The letter says that the church officials "mourn his death, grieve for 
his bereft young family, and lament the conditions in Iran which allow this 
sort of thing to happen repeatedly," and closes by assuring the Iranian 
leaders of their goodwill and prayers as the Iranian leaders "seek with 
righteousness to administer your responsibilities of leadership before 
Almighty God." 
 
     Though detailed information is difficult to obtain, sources say that 
Yousefi apparently left his home at 6 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, for prayer 
and never returned.  Local authorities notified his family of his death 
later that evening.  A funeral was held Oct. 5. 
 
     Nicknamed "Ravanbakhsh" (the Persian word for "Soul Giver") within 
Iran's Christian circles, Yousefi is survived by his wife, Akhtar, and two 
children -- a daughter, Ramsina, 9, and a son, Stephen, 7.  Sources say 
Akhtar became a Christian through the ministry of the Rev. Hossein 
Soodmand, who was officially executed in Mashad in 1990. 
 
     The Yousefis informally adopted and reared two sons of the Rev. Mehdi 
Dibaj, who was assassinated in 1994. 

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