UK bishop who left Iran after revolution says ‘barbaric’ regime ‘is in its death throes’ | EUROtoday

The regime in Iran is “in its death throes” an Anglican bishop who left the nation after the revolution has warned, however cautions it “shouldn’t be underestimated”.

The Rt Rev Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, mentioned that the regime is “doing everything it can to survive another day”.

She expressed deep private concern, including she “weeps what for could be coming” and is at the moment unable to contact anybody she is aware of in Iran.

The bishop, who holds a seat within the House of Lords, additionally affirmed her perception that the UK was proper to face by worldwide legislation and refuse to affix in with the preliminary US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Bishop Francis-Dehqani, 59, was born in Iran in 1966. Her father, Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, served because the Anglican Bishop in Iran and presiding bishop of the Episcopal church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.

In the wake of the revolution in 1979, there have been raids on their home, her father was imprisoned and there was an assassination try on her father’s life through which her mom Margaret was injured.

Then, whereas her father was on duties elsewhere within the Middle East, her brother Bahram was murdered.

After the funeral, Guli, her mom and her sister Shirin joined her father overseas and so they ultimately settled within the UK as refugees when Bishop Francis-Dehqani was 14 years previous.

Reflecting on the present state of affairs in Iran, the bishop informed PA: “I think that this regime is in its death throes, I genuinely do.

“But death throes can last for a very, very long time. I don’t have any clear sense of when it will end, but I believe it will end, and so I think they feel a sort of existential threat.

“I don’t think they really have a plan for how to properly reassert themselves financially, for example…

“I think everything they’re doing is about surviving another day, hence the brutality of the crackdown we saw at the end of last year into the beginning of this. I mean, it was utterly, utterly barbaric.

“I think everything they’re doing is about trying to survive another day and that shouldn’t be underestimated.”

Iran “constantly seems to surprise the West”, Bishop Francis-Dehqani mentioned, including: “I’m not a politician, but I imagine that President Trump is probably quite surprised at the response of Iran to these latest attacks.

“So, I think people underestimate their ability to have planned for this event – they probably knew it was coming.”

Asked concerning the UK Government’s determination to not be concerned within the preliminary strikes on Iran, she mentioned: “I personally happen to agree that Britain should not have joined in the attack.

“I think he (Sir Keir Starmer) was right to say this does not seem to have legal status under international law.

“And, frankly, I know international law is virtually now in shreds, and this seems to be another nail in its coffin, but I think it’s right that we stood by that and refused to join the attack.”

Bishop Francis-Dehqani mentioned her worry is that Iran will descend right into a civil battle and the bloodshed that comes with that.

She mentioned: “There is no credible opposition around which people will coalesce.

“If the regime does kind of collapse in some form of chaos, I really worry that there will be civil war.

“There are factions who are seeking change, wanting change. Some of them are no better, if not worse, than what we have at the minute.

“And I really fear civil war and massive bloodshed.”

Bishop Francis-Dehqani added that any regime change should come from inside Iran.

She mentioned: “The West has intervened so often in the politics of Iran, the people almost have lost the ability to to work out their future for themselves.

“So, I think the West, yes, give support to dissident groups, help the Iranian people, but they have to have agency in working out what comes next.

“And, certainly, democracy is a far-off dream. Democracy doesn’t come to a nation overnight, it has to be learned. And Iran has never been democratic.”

As she mentioned her issues, the bishop recalled a message she obtained from somebody in Iran through the protests in January, who informed her that there are terrorist dissident teams making use of the unrest.

She mentioned: “They are killing government agents and, he said, beheading them, literally on the streets.

“And then the government isn’t discerning between the terrorist groups and innocent protesters, so I fear we would have more of that kind of thing.”

She mentioned that whereas there have been some stories of celebrations in Iran on the dying of the Ayatollah, her fear is that, as time goes on and “the reality kicks in that this is not going to be over quickly”, that the elation “will turn to real fear”.

She mentioned: “I really weep for what could be coming in the coming days and weeks.”

The bishop reported that she is “not getting anything out of Iran at the minute, my messages aren’t getting through and nothing’s coming out”.

She mentioned: “I know that people who have close family and a lot of ties in Iran, this is a very, very difficult time, because obviously we have no news or information about friends, family, loved ones and so on.”