Report by PMOI/MEK
July 4, 2018 – 24 years ago, on the 4th of July in 1994, the body of slain Reverend Mehdi Dibaj was found in a jungle area near Tehran, the capital of Iran.
This horrendous murder came after the murder of Bishop Tateos Michaelian, whose body was found two days prior to that. These news reports began opening the eyes of all observers across the globe to the viciousness of the mullahs’ regime in regards to the followers of other religions.
At the time, Mr. Massoud Rajavi, Chairman of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), strongly condemned these two murders. On behalf of the Iranian Resistance movement, he expressed his deepest condolences to the families of these martyrs, Iranian Christians and all followers of Christianity across the globe.
On December 4th, 1998, Akbar Ganji wrote an article in the Arya daily saying:
The Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) murdered Christian reverends who are against “our political system” and “accused the PMOI/MEK” in this regard. The MOIS’ argument was that such measures would “relieve us of Christian clerics and also further defames the PMOI/MEK.”
Prior to this, Abdullah Nouri, a member of the Expediency Council and a former minister, and a number of regime-associated outlets also acknowledged the fact that the MOIS was behind the brutal murders of three Christian priests.
Based on an information published on September 26, 2006, Mrs. Fereshteh Dibaj, daughter of Rev. Mehdi Dibaj who was brutally murdered by agents of the regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in 1994, was arrested in the city of Mashhad. Mrs. Dibaj, 28, along with her husband Reza Montazami, 35, were arrested by MOIS agents at 7 am and transferred to an unknown location.
In 1994, Rev. Dibaj, Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr and Bishop Tateos Michaelian were brutally murdered by MOIS agents. Some time before the criminal murders, the mullahs' regime was forced under international pressure to release Rev. Dibaj after he spent nine years in prison.
The regime immediately blamed the killings of the Christian leaders on People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. Four years later, however, in the course of factional feuding in 1998, the regime's officials admitted that the priests' murders were carried out by the MOIS.
An NCRI statement in 2006 explained how the Iranian regime continued to harass the Dibaji family and shed light on the history of this crime:
“According to information received, on September 26 Mrs. Fereshteh Dibaj, daughter of Rev. Mehdi Dibaj who was brutally murdered by agents of the regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in 1994, was arrested in the city of Mashhad. Mrs. Dibaj, 28, along with her husband Reza Montazami, 35, were arrested by MOIS agents at 7 am and transferred to an unknown location.
“In 1994, Rev. Dibaj, Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr and Bishop Tateos Michaelian were brutally murdered by MOIS agents. Some time before the criminal murders, the mullahs' regime was forced under international pressure to release Rev. Dibaj after he spent nine years in prison.
“The regime immediately blamed the killings of the Christian leaders on People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. Four years later, however, in the course of factional feuding in 1998, the regime's officials admitted that the priests' murders were carried out by the MOIS.”
