In recent contact with Iranian believers, Open Doors learned that opinions of Christians about the presidential elections in Iran are various. In the first round of the elections on 12 June, voters choose the next president for Iran. Four candidates are approved by the Guardian Council to run for president. The election is won by absolute majority.
If there is no clear winner Friday 12 June, the two candidates who received most of the votes will go through the second round which is set to be 19 June.
Behrouz, a Christian living in Tehran, shared with Open Doors: “There are three main powers in this country; first we have the Supreme Leader then the President and third there is the Parliament.” Behrouz hopes candidate Mousavi, backed by former president Khatami, will win the elections, because Mousavi is seen to be one of the more pro-reformist candidates.
“Although this is not a guarantee that things will get better,” Behrouz added, “but now all three powers are dominated by fundamentalist influence. With big decisions, all three powers have to come to some kind of compromise, so with a more liberal president, at least one of the three powers might give some counter balance and a voice with a slightly more liberal tone in it.” “I have heard that during spring this year many government workers were paid extra salary by the president,” Behrouz said. “Ahmadinejad is trying very hard to buy votes and secure reelection through supporting smaller villages in rural areas.”
On the other hand, Heydar, also an Iranian Christian living in the country, does not expect any change in the pressure for the church. “Some minor things may change maybe, but the big line is that the pressure will remain to being high.” Heydar said that he will not vote this time because: “The decision is made already. Some brothers are even afraid to go and vote; they fear they may run into some difficulties if they vote the ‘wrong’ person.” Heydar added: “When invited to come to the secret police, they sometimes ask me why I don’t vote and why I don’t have an opinion about the nuclear program of Iran. I then reply that we are a spiritual people and don’t want to be involved in political issues.”
“I don’t know which president would be better for the situation of the church,” says Haydar, further explaining what he means; “Some say a more liberal president would give more opportunities and freedom for the church. But if you compare Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989-1997, with the president today; Ahmadinejad is seen to be more revolutionary and ideological than Rafsanjani. And although the church has a very difficult time under Ahmadinejad’s reign, during Rafsanjani’s presidency, several Christians were martyred for their faith in the mid-nineties.” Another Iranian Christian, Isadi, shared that he will vote. “Then we will see if the situation will change or not. If Ahmadinejad will stay president then the situation probably will stay the same or grow worse. Otherwise it might slightly change positively hopefully.”
