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Haik Hovsepian Mehr
Haik Hovsepian Mehr ( hy, Հայկ Հովսեփյան Մեհր; January 6, 1945, Tehran – January 19, 1994) was an Iranian Armenian Protestant minister and bishop of the ''Jama'at-e Rabbani'' church (part of the Assemblies of God church movement). After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he was one of the few Christian leaders to continue to evangelize. In 1994, he disappeared after protesting the Iranian government's treatment of converts to Christianity and is generally assumed to have been murdered by the state. The state, however, accuses the People's Mujahedin of Iran for his murder. Early life Hovsepian was born in 1945 in Tehran, Iran into an Armenian Apostolic middle-class family. He had three younger brothers: Edward, Roubik and George. When he was 15, he joined the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. In 1966, upon completion of his mandatory military service, Haik married Takoosh Ginagosian. In 1967, he pastored his first church in Majidieh, a suburb of the capital Tehran. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and Western Asia, and has the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East, after Cairo. It is ranked 24th in the world by metropolitan area population. In the Classical era, part of the territory of present-day Tehran was occupied by Rhages, a prominent Median city destroyed in the medieval Arab, Turkic, and Mongol invasions. Modern Ray is an urban area absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran. Tehran was first chosen as the capital of Iran by Agha Mohammad Khan of the Qajar dynasty in 1786, because of its proximity to Iran's territories in the Caucasus, then separated from Iran in the Russo-Iranian Wars, to avoid the vying factions of the previously ruling Iranian dynasties. The capital has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of , making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The country is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations Special Rapporteur On Freedom Of Religion Or Belief
The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief was established in 1986 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Background The United Nations General Assembly passed the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief in 1981. Although not endowed with the force of international law, this resolution was the first international legal instrument devoted exclusively to the freedom of religion. In furtherance of the goals of the 1981 resolution and in support the general evolution of the freedom of religion as a human right, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights established the "Special Rapporteur on Religion Intolerance." In 2000 the Commission on Human Rights changed the mandate title of the position to "Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief", in order that the position's name may more accurately capture the need for the Special Rapporteur to protect individuals's right to chang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatima Masumeh Shrine
The Shrine of Fatima Masumeh ( fa, حرم فاطمه معصومه translit. ''haram-e fateme-ye masumeh'') is located in Qom, which is considered by Shia Muslims to be the second most sacred city in Iran after Mashhad. Fatima Masumeh was the sister of the eighth Imam Reza and the daughter of the seventh Imam Musa al-Kadhim (Tabari 60). In Shia Islam, women are often revered as saints if they are close relatives to one of the Twelver Imams. Fatima Masumeh is therefore honored as a saint, and her shrine in Qom is considered one of the most significant Shi'i shrines in Iran. Every year, thousands of Shi'i Muslims travel to Qom to honor Fatima Masumeh and ask her for blessings. Also buried within the shrine are three daughters of the ninth Twelver Shī‘ah Imām Muhammad al-Taqī. Specifications The mosque consists of a burial chamber, three courtyards and three large prayer halls, totalling an area of . The three prayer halls are named: ''Tabātabā'ī'', ''Bālā Sar'', and ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mausoleum Of Ruhollah Khomeini
The mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini ( fa, آرامگاه روح الله خمینی) houses the tombs of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, his wife Khadijeh Saqafi, and his second son Ahmad Khomeini; and some political figures, such as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Vice President Hassan Habibi, Lieutenant General Ali Sayad Shirazi, Iranian Revolution figure Sadeq Tabatabaei, and MP Marzieh Hadidchi. The mausoleum is located to the south of Tehran in the Behesht-e Zahra (Paradise of Zahra) cemetery. Construction commenced in 1989 following Khomeini's death on June 3 of that year. It is still under construction, but when completed will be the centerpiece in a complex spread over ,Khomeini Tomb housing a cultural and tourist center, a university for |
1994 Imam Reza Shrine Bomb Explosion
A bomb explosion occurred at the shrine of Ali al-Ridha, the eighth Imam of Shia, on 20 June 1994 in a crowded prayer hall in Mashhad, Iran. To maximize the number of casualties, the explosion took place on Ashura, one of the holiest days for Shia muslims, when hundreds of pilgrims had gathered to commemorate the death of their third Imam, Husayn ibn Ali. The attack left at least 25 dead and at least 70 injured. The bomb was equivalent to 10 pounds of TNT, according to experts. Although a Sunni group claimed responsibility, the Iranian government laid the blame on the People's Mujahedin of Iran, and others have accused a Pakistani militant. Bombing On 20 June, the shrine was crowded with self-flagellating mourners, celebrating Ashura and commemorating the death of Husayn ibn Ali. At 14:26, a bomb exploded in a crowded prayer hall in the women's section of the shrine. ''The Independent'' described it as "the first attack on such a holy place" or "the worst terrorist atrocity in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mehdi Dibaj
Mehdi Dibaj (1935 – June/July 1994) was an Iranian Christian convert from Shia Islam, pastor and Christian martyr. Background Dibaj became a Christian as a young man and joined the Presbyterian church, but years later, he joined the church of Assembly of God, the Iranian branch of the Jama'at-e Rabbani Church. After the 1979 Iranian revolution he encountered difficulties. In 1983 he was arrested and imprisoned without trial in Sari and systematically tortured. During his imprisonment he was held in solitary confinement in a dark cell a metre in height, width and depth for two years. He was finally tried by an Islamic court in Sari on 3 December 1993 and sentenced to death on charges of apostasy. On 18 January 1994, Bernard Levin reprinted Dibaj's courtroom speech in place of his usual column in The Times as a mark of respect. Following a worldwide outcry initiated by his friend and colleague Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Dibaj was finally freed in January 1994, although the dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan in three mutually intelligible standard varieties, namely Iranian Persian (officially known as ''Persian''), Dari Persian (officially known as ''Dari'' since 1964) and Tajiki Persian (officially known as ''Tajik'' since 1999).Siddikzoda, S. "Tajik Language: Farsi or not Farsi?" in ''Media Insight Central Asia #27'', August 2002. It is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan, as well as within other regions with a Persianate history in the cultural sphere of Greater Iran. It is written officially within Iran and Afghanistan in the Persian alphabet, a derivation of the Arabic script, and within Tajikistan in the Tajik alphabet, a der ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitution Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, قانون اساسی جمهوری اسلامی ایران, ''Qanun-e Asasi-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Iran'') was December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum, adopted by referendum on 2 and 3 December 1979, and went into force replacing the Constitution of 1906. It has been 1989 Iranian constitutional referendum, amended once, on 28 July 1989. The constitution has been called a "Hybrid regime, hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements". Articles One and Two vest sovereignty in God; but article Six "mandates popular elections for the presidency and the Majlis, or parliament." However, main democratic procedures and rights are subordinate to the Guardian Council and the Supreme Leader of Iran, Supreme Leader, whose powers are spelled out in Chapter Eight (Articles 107–112). History It is said that an early draft was written in Paris by Ruhollah Khomeini during his exile there before the overthrow of the Pahlavi d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world's largest and most familiar international organization. The UN is headquarters of the United Nations, headquartered on extraterritoriality, international territory in New York City, and has other main offices in United Nations Office at Geneva, Geneva, United Nations Office at Nairobi, Nairobi, United Nations Office at Vienna, Vienna, and Peace Palace, The Hague (home to the International Court of Justice). The UN was established after World War II with Dumbarton Oaks Conference, the aim of preventing future world wars, succeeding the League of Nations, which was characterized as ineffective. On 25 April 1945, 50 governments met in San Francisco for United Nations Conference ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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