Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Memorial
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Tatavus Mika'ilian

About

Age: 62
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Christianity
Civil Status: Married

Case

Date of Killing: June 29, 1994
Location of Killing: Nezamabad, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Extrajudicial shooting

Human rights violations in this case

Extrajudicial killings

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of politically motivated violence in Iran and around the world. Since the 1979 Revolution, Islamic Republic operatives inside and outside the country have engaged in kidnapping, disappearing, and killing a large number of individuals whose activities they deemed undesirable. The actual number of the victims of extrajudicial killings inside Iran is not clear; however, these murders began in February 1979, with the murder of Parviz Sayyah Sina, an Anglican Bishop, and have continued since then, both inside and outside Iran. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has so far identified over 500 extrajudicial killings outside Iran attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.(1)

Dissidents have been assassinated by the agents of the Islamic Republic outside Iran, where one of the first assassinations, that of a Navy Officer, Shahriar Shafiq, took place in Paris in December 1979. These assassinations have taken place in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, India, and Pakistan in Asia; Dubai, Iraq, and Turkey in the Middle East; Cyprus, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain in Europe; and the United States across the Atlantic Ocean. In too many cases, states have failed to guarantee the victims’ rights to the truth, justice, and remedy; states have revealed little about the assassinations and have not issued arrest warrants. Where there have been arrests and prosecutions, available information reveals a state policy of eliminating perceived enemies. 

Documentation, evidence, and traces obtained through investigations conducted by local police and judicial authorities confirm, however, the theory of state committed crimes. In certain cases, these investigations have resulted in the expulsion (The Netherlands, 2018) or arrest (Brussels, 2020; Turkey, 2021) of Iranian diplomats. In limited cases outside Iran, the perpetrators of these murders have been arrested and put on trial (Paris 1980 and 1991) and the evidence presented, revealed the defendants’ connection to Iran’s government institutions, and an arrest warrant (the Mikonos Trial in Germany) has been issued for Iran’s then-Minister of Information, Ali Fallahian and the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications, Hossein Sheikh Attar.

The manner in which these killings were organized and implemented in Iran and abroad, is indicative of a single pattern which, according to Roland Chatelin, the Swiss prosecutor, contains common parameters and detailed planning. It can be ascertained from the similarities between these murders in different countries that the Iranian government is the principal entity who ordered the implementation of these crimes. (2). In 1997, the Berlin Criminal Court, in charge of hearing the case of the shooting of Kurdish dissidents in a Berlin restaurant, officially announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s highest-ranking officials had issued the order to carry out the killings. According to the indictment, the decision to commit the murders was made in a committee called the “Special Operations Committee” composed of the President, the Minister of Information and Security (VAVAK), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the various security organs and other organizations, and finally, the Leader of the Revolution. 

Iranian authorities have not officially accepted responsibility for these murders and have even attributed their commission to internal strife in opposition groups. Nevertheless, since the very inception of the Islamic Republic regime, the Islamic Republic officials have justified these crimes from an ideological and legal standpoint. In the spring of 1979, Sadeq Khalkhali, the first Chief Shari’a Judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts, officially announced the regime’s decision to implement extrajudicial executions, and justified the decision: “ … These people have been sentenced to death; from the Iranian people’s perspective, if someone wants to assassinate these individuals abroad, in any country, no government has any right to bring the perpetrator to trial as a terrorist, because such a person is the implementing agent of the sentence issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Therefore, they are Mahduroddam (“one whose blood may be spilled, whose life can be taken, without the perpetrator incurring any punishment”) and their sentence is death regardless of where they are [and where you find them].” 

More than 10 years after these proclamations, in a speech about the security forces’ success, Ali Fallahian, the regime’s Minister of Information stated the following regarding the elimination of members of the opposition: “ … We have had success in inflicting damage to many of these little groups outside the country and on our borders” (Speech broadcast on the state-run Iranian Radio and Television on August 31, 1992, quoted from Asr Iran, August 17, 2006).

Extrajudicial killings have rarely been pursued legally in Iran. The few murders that were followed up on in 1998 , which came to be known as “the Serial (Chain) Murders(3),” have brought to light the involvement and responsibility of the country’s Information officials. Several Ministry of Information agents who were defendants in the Serial Murders case, confirmed the existence of a long term government policy of extrajudicial killings and emphasized that there was planning on an annual basis to carry out these executions, for which a religious decree was issued. There was a budget allocated and there were objectives set, and those who participated in the murders were commended. In a lecture given at [the city of] Hamedan’s Bu Ali University in 1996, Sa’eed Emami, Ministry of Information Deputy Minister for Security Affairs and one of the principal defendants in the Serial Murders case – who was later said by Iranian officials to have committed suicide while in detention – had stressed that the activities of Iran’s security forces were not confined to the country’s borders: “ … We have set the security perimeter within the confines of our borders. [However,] if we see threats infiltrating inside the country from abroad, we will enlarge the perimeter.”

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1) Among the first known murders that occurred a week after the February 1979 Revolution was that of Mr. Parviz (Arastu) Sayyah Sina, the bishop of a church in the city of Shiraz. The assassination of Mr. Shahriar Shafiq, an Imperial Navy officer, in December 1979 in Paris is among the first murders committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran outside the country. ​​These killings continued in the following years inside and outside the country and in various forms.
2) Investigations into the murder of well-known personalities in France, Germany and Switzerland have yielded evidence and documentation showing that the officials and employees of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran acted as accomplices and principals [in the killings]. In France, the Islamic Republic’s Deputy Minister of Post and Telegraph was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for the murder of former Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar and his assistant, Sorush Katibeh. In Germany (Berlin), the Islamic Republic’s security agents and agents of the Lebanese Hezbollah were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of four Kurdish opposition leaders. In connection with the latter case, German Judicial authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Ali Fallahian, the then-Minister of Information. 
3) A few days before Mr. Mokhtari’s murder, Dariush Foruhar and his wife, Parvaneh Eskandari, leaders of the People of Iran Party, had been killed in a most heinous manner in their own home. After Mr. Mokhtari’s body was found, the body of Mohammad Ja’far Puyandeh, another well-known literary figure, was discovered in a village near the city of Karaj. These four individuals’ cases was named the “Serial Murders”.
Human rights violations

‌Based on the available information, the following human rights may have been violated in this case:

  • The right to liberty and security of the person. The right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 9.1.

  • The right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to change and manifest one’s religion or belief.

UDHR, Article 18; ICCPR, Article 18.1, ICCPR, Article 18.2; Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, Article 1 and Article 6.

In its general comment 22 (48) of 20 July 1993, the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee observed that the freedom to "have or to adopt" a religion or belief necessarily entailed the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one’s current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one’s religion or belief. Article 18, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert.

UDHR, Article 19; ICCPR, Article 19.1 and ICCPR, Article 19.2.

  • The right to freedom of peaceful assembly. 

UDHR, Article 20; ICCPR, Article 21.

  • The right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of one’s interests.

UDHR, Article 20; ICCPR, Article 22.1.

  • The right, as a member of a religious or ethnic minority, to enjoy one’s own culture or to profess and practice one’s own religion. 

UDHR, Article 18; ICCPR, Article 27.

  • The right to equality before the law and the right to equal protection of the law. 

UDHR, Article 7; ICCPR, Article 26.

The right to due process

  • The right to be presumed innocent until found guilty by a competent and impartial tribunal in accordance with law.

ICCPR, Article 14.1 and Article 14.2.

Pre-trial detention rights

  • The right to know promptly and in detail the nature and cause of the charges against one.

UDHR, Article 9(2); ICCPR, Article 9.2 and Article 14.3.a

  • The right to counsel of one’s own choosing or the right to legal aid. The right to communicate with one’s attorney in confidence

ICCPR, Article 14.3.b and Article 14.3.d; Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, Article 1, Article 2, Article 5, Article 6, and Article 8.

  • The right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defense case.

ICCPR, Article 14.3.b.

  • The right not to be subjected to torture and to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.

Trial rights

  • The right to a fair and public trial without undue delay.

ICCPR, Article 14.1, Article 14.3.c.

  • The right to examine, or have examined, the witnesses against one, and the right to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on one’s behalf under the same conditions as prosecution witnesses.

ICCPR, Article 14.3.d and Article 14.3.e.

  • The right to have the decision rendered in public.

ICCPR, Article 14.1.

Judgment rights

  • The right to appeal to a court of higher jurisdiction.

ICCPR, Article 14.5.

  • The right to seek pardon or commutation of sentence.

ICCPR, Article 6.4.

Capital punishment

  • The inherent right to life, of which no one shall be arbitrarily deprived.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6.1; Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, Article 1.1, Article 1.2.

  • The right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.

About this Case

Correct/ Complete This Entry

Reverend Tatavus Mika'ilian chaired the Council of Protestant Ministers in 1994. It was a time of extraordinary pressure on Christian clergy.

Information regarding the life and extrajudicial execution of Tatavus Mika'ilian (also spelled "Tateos Michaeilian"), the son of Arshaluis and Galust, was gathered from an interview conducted by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center with one of his close relatives (February 22, 2023), Kayhan newspaper (October 4, 1995), Jomhuri Eslami newspaper (July 6-20, 1994; June 12 and 19, 1995; October 4, 1995), Hamshahri Newspaper (October 4, 1995), Pejvak website (August 19, 2015), Human Rights Watch's 1997 report on religious minorities, Radio Zamaneh (January 17, 2021), and the English language website Article 18 (June 28, 2019). The additional information was gathered from Iraj Mesdaghi's YouTube and book, including interviews and reports on Christian leaders and the murders of pastors, Solving the Mystery of the Murder of Christian Pastors, co-authored with Farahnaz Anami (2023). His daughter, Mariet Mika'ilian, also spoke about her father and his extrajudicial execution in an interview with an administrator of the Facebook page "God's Grace in Pain" (February 27, 2021). Amnesty International also reported on Mr. Mika'ilian's murder in its 1994 report.

According to available information, Mr. Tatavus Mika'ilian was born in 1932 to an Armenian Orthodox family in Tehran. He was married with two daughters and a son. He received a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Tehran and later completed his studies in theology at a university in Beirut. "Instead of pursuing a career as a lawyer for wealth, fame, and status, he chose to use his knowledge to serve God. He had a good position as a translator with an oil company, where he was highly respected. However, he decided to leave that job to serve as the Executive Secretary of the Bible Society." Mr. Mika'ilian was also one of the founders of the Jama'at-e Rabbani Church* and worked at the Gohar School affiliated with the Armenian Evangelical Church, where he served as a teacher, assistant director, and director. In 1970, he took over the leadership of the Iranian Bible Society. In 1990, he became the leader of the Armenian Evangelical Church (John) and assumed pastoral responsibilities. During his time in this position, he translated around 60 religious and moral books, including The Secret of Joy, The Way of the Cross, You Will Be My Witnesses, and The Nature and Mission of the Church (The interview with Mariet Mika'ilian).

Following the extrajudicial execution of Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Bishop of the Jama'at-e Rabbani Church, Mr. Mika'ilian became head of the Evangelical Pastors' Council. He also served as executive secretary of the Evangelical Church Council. His daughter noted, "Although he was an Armenian pastor, he held the position of executive secretary of the Church Council of Iran. He had a deep love for Iran and its people. He often said that God has called many people in Iran and we should strive to share the message of salvation with all of them. He didn't serve only the Armenians" (Interview with Mariet Mika'ilian).

After the revolution, Mr. Mika'ilian gave an interview to the French newspaper "Le Monde" in which he discussed the harsh conditions Christians face in Iran. In response, the Ministry of Culture summoned him several times and pressured him to take back his statements. However, he strongly resisted this pressure and did not deny what he had said. His daughter noted that he "always made the necessary objections and was never afraid. Whenever Christians were mistreated, he would go out and protest. He always spoke the truth with courage. This attitude angered the Ministry of Culture and led to their increasing enmity towards him (interview with Mariet Mika'ilian).

One of Mr. Mika'ilian's close associates told the Boroumand Foundation, "He was often summoned to the Ministry of Culture. Once, a cleric said on television that people should avoid dogs, pigs and non-Muslims during the month of Muharram. Mr. Mika'ilian went to the ministry and "loudly protested" this statement. He often criticized Islamic texts and views, pointing out passages that were in direct opposition to Christianity. The associate recounted another incident in which the school principal told students that instead of saying the Lord's Prayer in the morning, they should say "Allahu Akbar" and "Death to America. In response, Mr. Mika'ilian instructed students not to say these words and said that they would start their day with their own prayer. The principal then angrily accused them of insulting the regime and disrespecting Khomeini. Mr. Mika'ilian faced many such challenges, but always stood up courageously to defend the rights of Christians (Interview with the Boroumand Center, February 22, 2023).

He also traveled to The Hague to protest the situation of Christians in Iran. He said they lacked freedom: "He said that the response he received was that they couldn't compromise political relations with Iran because of Christianity. He was very disappointed and very upset. He was someone who went everywhere to defend the rights of Christians" (Interview with the Boroumand Center, February 22, 2023).

After the murder of Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Mr. Mika'ilian spoke at a conference during his last trip to Cyprus, where he discussed the various pressures and persecutions Christians face. He remarked, "They have now begun to kill our clergy." In the days following the murder of Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Mr. Mika'ilian visited his family every day. "Many pastors were afraid to get close to them, but he visited them regularly. He believed that God would protect him if He wanted to" (Interview with the Boroumand Center, February 22, 2023). 

The Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran

While Christianity counts among the three Abrahamic religions officially recognized in Iran, the status carved out for Christians by the Constitution and civil and penal code is markedly inferior. In practice, religious tolerance applies only to ethnic groups who are historically Christian, i.e. Armenians and Assyrians, and not to believers or converts from Muslim backgrounds. The Iranian government has implemented policies that demarcate, monitor, and aggressively suppress Christian civic presence.

The Constitution bars Christians from becoming President, members of the Guardian Council, Army Commanders, School Principals, and from holding senior government positions. They are prohibited from running in General Parliamentary elections, and the three seats allocated to Christians in Parliament are exclusively for Armenian, Assyrian, and Chaldean representatives.

Civil and criminal statutes explicitly disadvantage Christian parties. They are entitled to less compensation in car-accident settlements and cannot inherit property from Muslims. Several offenses punishable by lashings for Muslims are for Christians punishable by death.

The activities of Christian churches and peoples have long been subject to Ministry of Culture surveillance. A law purporting to flag sellers of non-halal foods requires Christian shop owners to display signs reading “designated for religious minorities;” in practice, this signage has been enforced on all Christian businesses as a deterrent to Muslim patrons. Christians have reported denials of academic admissions and business permits on religious grounds. By the mid-90s all but two Protestant churches had closed under various government pressures, including demands to provide congregants’ names and personal information.

Since the revolution, hundreds of Christians have been detained arbitrarily. Many are sentenced to various prison terms and others are released with the specter of charges and investigations against them that are left open indefinitely. Multiple sources who have been arrested or detained reported being threatened by judicial or security officers with apostasy charges, execution, or assassination. With apostasy left unaddressed in penal code, judges defer to the Shar’ia, leaving Christian converts vulnerable to death sentences; it is also left to the personal discretion of judges whether the murder of a Christian by a Muslim even constitutes a crime. The state has historically displayed a lack of due diligence in resolving the cases of Christians who die in suspect circumstances, which further exacerbates the precarity of Christians’ social and legal status.

While the Iranian government does not publicize official data on the size of Iran’s Christian population, available sources reflect the consensus that conversions from Islam have been steadily on the rise since the revolution, and that Iranians with Christian leanings could now number as high as 1 million, or 1.5 percent of the population. The regime thus continues to invest significantly in the surveillance of Christian activities. Scores of Christians have fled Iran and taken refuge in other countries.. 

The 1990s marked a period of religious crackdowns that staggered, among others, Christian communities. Amid the overall increase in executions, corporal punishments, raids, and press restrictions, scores of Christian converts were imprisoned and tortured. In an effort to curb growing public interest in Christianity, Iran placed caps on church attendance, shut down Iran’s main Persian-language bible publisher, prohibited sermons in Persian, confiscated all Christian books, closed all Christian bookstores, and dissolved the Iranian Bible society. As of 2023, of 43 Protestant churches in Iran, 16 remain of which 10 are in Tehran. Only four are permitted to preach in Persian.

The Episcopal Church in Iran

The Episcopal Church in Iran, a diocese of the Anglican Communion, has its roots in 19th-century British missionaries’ presence and has been influenced by the Anglican traditions, beliefs, and governance. It operated under the auspices of the Diocese of London until 1976, when it became a member of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. In 1961, the first native Persian bishop was appointed and progressively the Church evolved into a predominantly Persian community. The Episcopal church was made up primarily of Muslim converts and delivered its sermons in Persian.  The Church Missionary Society (CMS) played a pivotal role in formally founding the church, focusing on education, hospitals, and missionary activities. Missionary work in the 19th and 20th century, including famine relief and educational initiatives, led to the establishment of schools, including schools for girls, hospitals, and churches in various Persian cities in the South of Iran including Yazd, Esfahan, Kerman, and Shiraz. These activities survived changes in leadership, war and various external circumstances that led to the loss of institutions and deadly violence and persecution of its members. The church maintained its presence in Iran and as of the late 20th century, it reportedly had around 4,000 members, comprising both expatriates and locals.

The Islamic Revolution brought a renewed wave of persecution onto religious minority communities, and the evangelistic and international nature of the Anglican church made them particularly vulnerable targets. By the early 70s, the support of western missionaries was still integral to the diocese, and historical associations of the church to England provided an excuse to Iran’s religious revolutionary groups to accuse the Episcopalians of spying. Reverend Sayyah Sina, who headed the Shiraz Episcopalian Church, was brutally assassinated on February 19, 1979. Between June 1979 and August 1980, several Anglican institutions were confiscated, while many Anglican clergy and congregants were intimidated, threatened, disempowered, detained and interrogated.

Mr. Tatavus Mika’ilian’s extrajudicial execution 

According to available information, Pastor Mika'ilian disappeared after leaving his home on Wednesday, June 29, 1994, and according to forensic reports provided to his family, he was killed on Friday, July 1. However, available information indicates that he was murdered on the same Wednesday that he disappeared.

According to his family and a close friend, Mr. Mika'ilian was threatened several times by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Intelligence, with warnings to stop his activities. He received numerous messages advising him to be careful, and even people close to his family put pressure on him, saying, "They are watching and monitoring you. Be careful. You have a family. Your future isn't bright. He was specifically warned by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Intelligence about distributing Bibles to church visitors: "They always called him. At the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Intelligence, he told them that if anyone came and asked for a Bible, he would give it to them. He asked them, 'If someone came to you and asked for a Quran, wouldn't you give it to them? He made it clear that he would not give in to their demands" (interview with Mariet Mika'ilian).

The then head of the Forensic Medicine Organization, Dr. Hasan Tofiqi, stated regarding the time and manner of Mr. Mika'ilian's death: "The body of Tatavus Mika'ilian was delivered to the Forensic Medicine Department one day after his death, on July 2, 1994." He continued, "Examinations indicate that he was killed by three shots to critical areas of his body. Signs on the body indicate that Pastor Mika'ilian's body was kept in a cold place for 24 hours after he was killed until it was delivered to the Forensic Medicine Department" (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper, July 11, 1994).

According to one of his close friends, several bullets had hit Mr. Mika'ilian in the head, and parts of his head and face were destroyed by the gunfire, making him almost unrecognizable (interview with the Boroumand Center, February 22, 2023).

On Sunday, July 2, 1994, four days after his father's disappearance, Mr. Mika'ilian's son, along with another family member, found the body in the forensic morgue. "They did not expect us to find his body. So they had no choice but to tell us that, yes, we found him. He was killed" (Article 18).

The Director General of Internal Security of the Ministry of Intelligence also confirmed that on Wednesday, June 29, police officers visited the landlord's house and the police informed the Tehran Intelligence Department about the signs of a "group crime" and then they found Mr. Mika'ilian's body in a freezer (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper, July 16, 1994).

Mr. Mika'ilian's body was buried by his family in the Armenian cemetery after being taken from the Evangelical Church of Tehran on the afternoon of July 13, 1994. About seven hundred Christians attended his funeral (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper, July 14, 1994).

After Pastor Mika'ilian's funeral, the Ministry of Intelligence summoned his son and several of his church colleagues. At the meeting, they were informed that the police had identified three women members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK)-as the perpetrators. On July 18, 1994, a press conference was held in one of the offices of a security institution, attended by both domestic and foreign journalists. The three women admitted to killing the pastors. They stated that their goal was to create discord between Islam and Christianity, as well as between Shia and Sunni Muslims, and to destabilize the regime. They claimed that their actions were carried out under the direct orders of the MEK.

In a list published on March 11, 2000, by Nasser Zarafshan, a lawyer, regarding the chain murders in the Islamic Republic, Mr. Mika'ilian's name appeared among 34 individuals killed by the Ministry of Intelligence during Sa'id Emami's tenure. Zarafshan stated that this list included those for whom there was at least enough evidence to prove they were killed by security agents.

Ms. Anami, one of the three women associated with the Mojahedin, revealed in an interview in 2023 that she and her friends were manipulated unknowingly by intelligence agents. They believed that they were working with members of the Mojahedin Organization. In their reports, they had to sketch locations provided by the agents. Anami explained that she brought Mr. Mika'ilian to her home by telling him that her cousin was a disabled war veteran, paralyzed from the waist down. She said, "I had to tell him this story to convince him to visit my friend in a house on Nezamabad Street. They arranged to meet at the junction of Enghelab and Gorgan Streets at 5:30 p.m. on June 29. Anami emphasized that they were not aware of their connection with the Ministry of Intelligence, and for years they believed that they were working with the Mojahedin Organization to overthrow the regime. (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper, July 19, 1994)

Iranian Officials’ Reaction

After Mr. Mika'ilian's son discovered his father's body at the Forensic Medicine Organization on Saturday, July 2, 1994, intelligence agents told him and his companions that they were not allowed to inform anyone, including family members. Sa'id Emami, deputy minister of intelligence, asked the Mika'ilian family to remain silent after the body was found. A relative explained: "They immediately called everyone in and said, 'You are not allowed to say a word to anyone. When they saw the body, none of them said anything to us. They were strictly told, 'We are investigating this and we will inform you when it is necessary.' (Boroumand Center Interview - February 22, 2023).

The then spokesman for the Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday, July 6, 1994, that law enforcement authorities had discovered the body of Mr. Mika'ilian on Saturday, July 2. Information about the crime had been sent to all law enforcement and judicial centers. He added that the results of the ongoing investigation would be made public within the next few hours. (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper - July 6, 1994)

Mr. Mika'ilian's daughter stated, "On Sunday, they came and informed my mother and the church. When his funeral was held, a large number of intelligence officials and police officers were present. They monitored every movement and did not allow us to open the coffin. (Article 18)"

After Mr. Mika'ilian's murder, his family faced significant pressure from officials. They received summons from the Islamic Revolutionary Court and were forced to appear several times for questioning. During these visits, they were treated disrespectfully, and the women in the family were compelled to wear chadors against their will. (Interview by Boroumand Center, February 22, 2023)

On July 7, 1994, Iranian newspapers reported that a young woman named Farahnaz Anami had been arrested by intelligence forces in Zahedan while attempting to flee the country. She was initially identified as the main suspect in the murders of Pastor Tatavus Mika'ilian and Pastor Dibaj. A Ministry of Intelligence official claimed that "valuable documents were found on the arrested terrorist, confirming her links to the terrorist group Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and her role in the murders of two Iranian Christians." The report added that more details from her confessions would be made public soon. (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper, July 7, 1994)

After the murder of Pastor Mika'ilian, two officials of the Ministry of Intelligence, who were later arrested for the murders of two writers and two nationalist political activists in 1998, reacted to the case and gave explanations. These officials had confessed to assassinating dissidents and opposition figures on the orders of the Minister of Intelligence, Dori Najafabadi. In an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Musavinejad, the then Director General of Internal Security at the Ministry of Intelligence, explained the arrest of those responsible for the murders of Pastor Mika'ilian, Pastor Dibaj, and the bombings of religious sites. According to him, Farahnaz Anami and two other women, along with two men, all supporters of the MEK, were responsible for the murders of Pastor Mika'ilian, Pastor Dibaj, and Bishop Hovsepian Mehr, as well as the bombing of the Imam Reza Shrine. He further stated that during the interrogation of Farahnaz Anami, they discovered a hidden hideout in a house in Nezamabad where they found two Beretta pistols, one of which was used in the murder of Pastor Mika'ilian. (Jomhuri Eslami Newspaper, July 16, 1994)

Sa'id Emami, then deputy minister for security in the Ministry of Intelligence, spoke out on the issue of Iranian conversions to Christianity. During the eleventh nationwide gathering of Friday prayer imams in the fall of 1995, he called the spread of Christianity an example of "cultural invasion" and described the conversion of people to Christianity as enmity against Islam. He stated, "The Pope told one of the Iranian pastors that the only way to stand up for Christianity is to stand up against the Islamic front. This pastor, who was killed by the Mojahedin, converted 300 Shiite Muslims to Christianity in just two and a half years. You can see what a front Christianity has opened". (Radio Zamaneh)

In response to the issuance of a resolution by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on the human rights situation in Iran and the international community's reaction to these killings, Mahmud Mohammadi, then spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated at a press conference on December 15, 1995: "The Third Committee's criticism of the lack of protection for the lives of Christian minorities threatened by terrorism applies to the sponsors of this resolution, who have yet to condemn any terrorist acts against the people of Iran, including Muslims and Christians. If they apply such double standards to religious figures of Muslims and Christians in Iran, they have only themselves to blame, as this discriminatory approach may encourage terrorist acts in our society.

Three days later, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati met with Abdolfattah Amur, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights. During this meeting, Velayati insisted that religious minorities enjoy complete freedom in the Islamic Republic of Iran. He claimed that based on Islamic compassion, they are granted certain privileges, which in some cases are even greater than those granted to Muslims. (IRNA, December 18, 1995)

After describing her method of communicating with the pastor and how she lured him to her home, Ms. Anami confessed to the court that she shot the pastor in the back of the head on Wednesday, June 29, after her friend had shot him first.

On October 4, 1995, the Head of the Revolutionary Courts commented on the three supporters of the Mojahedin Organization and said, "As they have publicly admitted in sessions, these three have confessed to their illegal actions in support of the Mojahedin and have specifically acknowledged their efforts to overthrow the regime. Their other activities included participating in bombings at holy sites to create insecurity and participating in the assassination of prominent figures and religious minorities to create negative propaganda about the rights of religious minorities in Iran internationally." After four court sessions and considering "changes in the behavior of the three Mojahed girls" and "Islam's attention to women's rights," the court sentenced the defendants to 15 years in prison for their involvement in efforts to overthrow the regime. As Mr. Mika'ilian's family had given their consent, Farahnaz Anami was sentenced to 30 years in prison. (Kayhan Newspaper, October 4, 1995) Ms. Anami later left the country and is currently living in a European country.

Mojahedin Khalq Organization’s Reaction

The Mojahedin Organization has officially denied any connection with the three individuals accused of killing the Christian pastors.

Familys’ Reaction

Following Mr. Mika'ilian's disappearance, his family actively sought assistance from the authorities. They wrote letters to the Ministry of the Interior requesting assistance in locating him.

On September 25, 1995, Mrs. Mika'ilian and her two daughters were called as witnesses in the final trial of three women affiliated with the Mojahedin Organization in the Revolutionary Court. The judge asked each member of the family whether they accepted that the defendants had killed Mr. Mika'ilian and whether they wanted them to be punished. However, the family chose to forgive the defendants rather than seek punishment (Article 18).

Reflecting on her father's murder by the Mojahedin, his daughter expressed doubts about the official narrative: "Honestly, I don't believe any of it. It all seems like a scripted scenario. After Sa'id Emami committed suicide, and when we realized that he was the one who called my family to explain what the Mojahedin had done, it became clearer to me that this was their own plot. They wanted to achieve two goals with one action.

Impacts on Family

According to available information, after Mr. Mika'ilian's death, his family went through a difficult time that eventually led them to leave the country. His daughter reflected on the deep impact it had on their lives: "Our family changed completely. After that, my brother could no longer live comfortably. Whenever he saw a woman in a chador, he felt sick. He was overwhelmed with anger and rage, which forced him to leave for America. Later, my sister and her husband also decided to leave, and eventually my mother followed them. Basically, our whole family fell apart. 

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