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Iranian
Christian Joseph Hovsepian says Christians protesting
the June re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad could face even more intense persecution
than believers already endure.
Hovsepian, whose father, Bishop Haik Hovsepian, was
martyred in Iran in 1994, said his friends and relatives
in Iran claim that few Christians are in the streets
protesting, although they share the protesters’ demands
for a full recount of the bitterly disputed election and
more freedom.
“We should not forget that the danger for Christians
protesting in Iran is double,” said Hovsepian. “If this
is how brutally the Iranian government cracks down on
its own Muslim protesters who shout ‘Alaho Akbar’ (God
is great), just imagine how much worse it could be for
Christians protesting and calling on Jesus for help!”
Hovsepian, who lives in the Los Angeles area, added that
current events in Iran have helped unite the church
there. The recent murder of Neda Agah-Soltan, 26, killed
by a bullet while standing on a street in Tehran during
a protest, brought back memories of the brutal killing
of his father, an evangelical church leader in Iran, who
was stabbed 26 times by an attacker.
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