by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The "spy war" between Iran and Israel has taken an unexpected turn. Iranian intelligence services have reported the arrest of a "pro-Israel intelligence network" made up of local evangelical Christians.
The latter, while in the country in a semi-legal position, conducted reconnaissance of nuclear facilities and surveillance of potential targets with good intentions.
During the investigation it became clear that most of the Christians could have been used “in the dark,” and the real organizer of the influence network had long since disappeared from sight, putting Iranian security officials in front of an uncomfortable choice.
UNDER THE HOOD
Although the vast majority of Iranians are Muslim, there is room in the country for other faiths, including Christianity.
According to the latest estimates, the total number of adherents of this religion in the country exceeds 300 thousand people (about 0.4% of the population), and they are predominantly Armenians and Assyrians.
They have basic rights such as permission to conduct services and perform rituals, as well as celebrate major religious holidays.
However, there is also a so-called "shadow" category of Christians - those movements that are prohibited from holding public worship services. As a rule, we are talking about Protestant groups that are considered by the Iranian authorities as "apostates" and do not have the opportunity to fully preach in Iran.
The total number of "shadow" Christians is unknown and ranges from 250 to 400 thousand people.
| Some claim up to three million. But because converting from Islam is illegal, there’s no way of counting them. |
He believed that all Protestants were agents of the US and Israel and used religion as a cover for subversive activities. Until Ahmadinejad's resignation in 2013, "shadow" Christians lived literally under the surveillance of the secret services and became the object of public persecution.
However, even after Ahmadinejad left the presidency, suspicion towards “shadow” Christians in Iran has not completely disappeared from the agenda. The only difference is that the focus of attention has shifted to specific movements within Protestantism.
Thus, Baptists, Charismatics and Mennonites—adherents of evangelical movements widespread in the USA and European countries—remained under constant attention.
However, despite constant monitoring, until recently cases of persecution of Christians in Iran were isolated: punishments were imposed for importing banned literature into the country or disturbing public order. However, this August the situation changed radically.
"WE OFTEN HUNG AROUND THE PLANT"
Following Israel's Operation Lion Force in June, Iranian security forces carried out a large-scale campaign of arrests and raids aimed at destroying Tel Aviv's agents. Some fifty evangelists were also caught in their net, arrested in different parts of the country.
The largest number of agents were detained in Tehran (12 people) and Mashhad (6 people), where Iranian military and religious authorities resided respectively. Another four were caught in Semnan province, where a large number of secret facilities are located, including missile bases and research institutes.
Three other evangelists were said by local residents to have been hanging around the TESA centrifuge plant in Karaj "suspiciously often."
The rest were taken to police stations by local Basij militias, who had been raised by Tehran to hunt for Israeli spies. Moreover, many of them explained such high attention to the protesters precisely by the “lessons of Ahmadinejad” and his followers.
RIGHTEOUS "FEAT"
Initially, the evangelists' cases were tried separately from each other, and at least ten were released on bail almost immediately for lack of serious evidence. Three received apologies from law enforcement for the inconvenience caused.
However, during the process it became clear that most of the detainees had one common detail in their biographies. They all attended masses of Bryan Jay Adams, an American-born evangelist who settled in Turkey several years ago.
Adams, who called himself a disciple of Mark Burns (an influential American pastor and “spiritual mentor” of American President Donald Trump ), organized meetings for suffering Iranians in Izmir, Turkey, at the local Baptist community, helped organize worship services, and also had confidential conversations about pressing issues.
Much of his sermons were devoted to the situation in the Middle East. Adams said that Iran's desire to acquire nuclear weapons was a harbinger of the imminent Apocalypse, and Christians must perform a "righteous deed" by thwarting Tehran's plans.
At the same time, the pastor did not incite his followers to "take up arms" against the ayatollah regime. On the contrary, he called on his flock to "go on pilgrimages" to various parts of Iran, collect information about the situation, look for followers and like-minded people in the army and in dangerous industries, and use them to sabotage the work.
The data collected during the "pilgrimages" were subsequently actively discussed at meetings in Izmir and were supplied with religious remarks from Adams.
At the same time, the pastor at least several times asked the pilgrims to pass on various literature to their friends in Turkey or in the Iranian border area, explaining this by his own “very busy schedule.”
The last meeting took place in June, a few days before the start of the Lion Force. However, during it, the pastor did not give his charges new assignments, but only called on them to “pray harder” and carry his ideas to other Protestants in the country.
SOMEONE ELSE'S BIOGRAPHY
Iranian investigators believe that the evangelists were victims of an Israeli intelligence operation, at least because the preacher Adams is unknown in wide evangelical circles and has never figured among Burns's disciples.
But everyone is familiar with his full namesake - the Canadian singer and composer, who became famous, among other things, for his religious-themed music albums and who was friends with Republican elites.
In Tehran, they believe that the unknown Israeli agent simply “tried on” (with some adjustments) someone else’s biography and, thanks to this, quickly gained the trust of the Protestants.
He then used them for covert espionage in his own interests, as well as for transmitting secret reports to operatives in other countries under the guise of religious and other literature.
This version is supported by the fact that subsequent attempts to find "Pastor Adams" in Izmir with the help of Christian loyalists were unsuccessful. The previously active preacher broke off previous contacts and literally "disappeared from the radar."
It is interesting that the Iranian authorities are trying their best to protect local Christians from possible attacks and are positioning the detained evangelists as “undercover Zionists” whose goal is to sow discord in the country and create a schism on religious grounds.
The reason is simple: dissatisfaction with the activities of the Protestants could well result in pogroms, which will not add to Tehran’s popularity in the eyes of the world community.
Moreover, pressure on religious communities that have “representatives” in the United States carries the risk of the White House using this factor to justify new anti-Iranian operations.
Tehran does not want to give its opponents an additional trump card, but it will most likely not be able to let the situation slide either. Due to the presence of an “Israeli trace” in the case of the evangelists, their trial risks becoming in many ways a show trial.
Although most of them still believe that they are victims in the case rather than real defendants.