Skip to main content

Rowan Williams leads mass criticism of Iran from Anglican bishops


Rowan Williams leads mass criticism of Iran from Anglican bishops

Former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams leads a mass denunciation of Iran today from 50 bishops across the UK's three Anglican churches.

Attacking the 'deplorable situation of human rights in Iran, particularly the painful situation of religious minorities', the statement represents the largest en-masse political intervention from Anglican bishops since the refugee crisis three years ago.ReutersRowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, has led the criticism of Iran's regime.

Led Dr Williams, now master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, the letter is also signed by the heads of the Scottish and Welsh Anglican churches as well as the bishop of Durham, one of the most senior figures in the Church of England.

'The regime has been condemned no less than 64 times by various United Nations bodies and criticised by international human rights organisations for its appalling human rights record,' the statement reads. 'While the majority of the victims of the regime's abuses are Shiite Muslims, members of religious minorities, including Christians, Jews, members of the Sunni branch of Islam, and people of other faiths, have been targeted over their personal religious beliefs.'The intervention comes at a delicate time for international diplomacy towards Iran after Donald Trump reneged on the US' commitment to the Iran Nuclear Deal. The decision was widely condemned by other signatories, including the French, British and German governments.

But Trump pressed ahead and imposed economic sanctions that had been waived under the deal designed to prevent Iran building a nuclear bomb.

The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed under President Obama's administration and curbed Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions that had been imposed by the UN, US and EU.


The bishops' statement, which has also been signed by 78 church leaders from the US, demands that governments act. They backs the annual 'Free Iran' event in Paris next Saturday led by opponents of the regime.

'We call on all countries to take into consideration the deplorable situation of human rights in Iran, particularly the painful situation of religious minorities, in navigating their relations with Iran,' the statement says. 'We urge them to base any improvement of relations with Iran on a cessation of oppression of minorities and on a halt to executions in Iran.

'The time has come for us to listen to the Iranian people's demand for freedom, including religious freedom.'
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

French FM Visits Iran to Talk Ballistic Missiles and Syria

French FM Visits Iran to Talk Ballistic Missiles and Syria05 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 05 Mar - The French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, has arrived in Iran to talk with the country's president Hassan Rouhani, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, according to Iranian state TV. Talks are expected to focus on Iran’s involvement in the Syrian Civil war and Iran's ballistic missile program, which both Le Drian and French President Emmanuel Macron have criticized Iran's missile program in recent weeks, with Le Drian stating that Iran's ballistic missile capacity worried France “enormously". In response to Iranian claims that their ballistic missile program is peaceful, Le Drian said: "Having such tools is not uniquely defensive, given the distance they can reach." The French Foreign Ministry even issued a statement ahead of the trip, which said Le Drian ...
Post a Comment
Read more
WE SHOULD LISTEN CLOSELY TO IRAN Created: 26 January 2018 Iran Maryam Rajavi NCRI PMOI/MEK Human rights Protests United States Opinion JCPOA Paris Middle East Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei (Photo by Supreme Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) By Heshmat Alavi As the world continues to debate the recent Iranian outburst of protests, its "lack of leadership" as they claim, and the road ahead, there is no doubt in the minds of senior Iranian regime officials over who led, and continues to lead, this latest uprising that continues to rattle the very pillars of the mullahs' rule.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made his thoughts crystal clear.“The incidents were organized” and carried out by the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), he said although using a different term. “The [MEK] had prepared for this months ago” and “the [MEK’s] media outlets had called for it.” The MEK is best known ...
Post a Comment
Read more
How years of increasing labor unrest signaled Iran’s latest protest wave 1/20/2018 11:00:45 AM Anti-government protests spread in Iran, garner U.S. praise By Kevan Harris and Zep Kalb Washington Post, January 19, 2018 - Beginning on Dec. 28, a wave of protests surged across Iran, with at least 75 cities reportedly experiencing one or more demonstrations in the first week. Soon after they began, commentators rushed to attribute the protests to various grievances, from Ponzi-like banking scheme collapses and budget corruption allegations to soaring prices of eggs and gasoline. However, our research suggests that rather than grievances alone, an underappreciated precursor for the protests was the buildup of demonstrations and rallies by teachers, workers, trade unions and civil society associations. Before the recent protests, we constructed a data set detailing labor unrest in Iran from 2012 to 2016. Using credible domestic newspapers that contained information on these demonstrations, ...
Post a Comment
Read more