CATHOLIC NUNS IN IRAN REPORT DIFFICULTIES

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000058

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

LONDON FOR GAYLE, BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD
BAKU FOR HAUGEN, PARIS FOR WALLER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/30/2017
TAGS: IR KIRF SOCI PGOV
SUBJECT: CATHOLIC NUNS IN IRAN REPORT DIFFICULTIES

RPO DUBAI 00000058 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian Burns, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1.(S//NF) Summary: A Catholic nun living in Iran told IRPO said
she leads a small group of nuns who do community work and
operate under the authority of the Assyrian Church in Iran. The
nun said their ability to carry out their duties is severely
limited when compared to pre-revolutionary days and that their
community center is closely monitored by the Iranian government.
She said the nuns have had difficulty obtaining permission and
funding to build a new community center outside of Tehran,
complaining of government corruption. She requested USG funding
to complete the community center, while acknowledging the
difficulty of accepting money from foreign sources. End
Summary.


2. This is an action request. Please see para 10.

3.(S//NF) A Catholic nun who has lived 33 years in Iran,
discussed with IRPoff the situation for her and her fellow
sisters in Iran. She said that she came with a small group of
Catholic nuns (four Italians and one Brazilian) to Iran in 1974.
They chose to operate under the authority of the Assyrian
Church, the nun said, because it was poorer and needed more help
than the Armenian Church.

Less freedom than before revolution
--------------

4.(S//NF) Prior to the 1979 revolution, the nuns ran a boarding
school where she said many Iranian elite sent their children, as
well as a clinic and orphanage, also open to non-Christians.
Following the revolution, however, their school, clinic, and
orphanage were closed, and today they are only allowed to run a
Christian community center. Furthermore, the community center
is off limits to non-Christians. While many foreigners were
forced to leave Iran after the revolution (in part, she said,
because rations were not available to non-Iranians),the nuns
were able to stay because they had acquired Iranian citizenship.
(Note: It was not clear whether this is the only group of
Catholic nuns in Iran. End note.)

5.(S//NF) The nuns, who currently number 6-8, are permitted to
hold a mass at the center every Tuesday, performed by an
Assyrian priest. She said they also hold "underground"
workshops in ceramics, computers, and foreign languages,
inferring that the workshops are also attended by
non-Christians. She said that young people used to come to
their workshops more freely in the past. The nun indicated that
more recently they have had difficulty attracting people to
their classes and said that the organization now has to offer
some incentives. (Note: She did not indicate why interest was
waning or specify what kind of incentives they offered. End
note).

6.(S//NF) The nun commented that the Assyrian Church in Iran
today has a fragile structure. The Assyrian bishop in Iran is
Iraqi, she said, and without Iranian citizenship he is
technically vulnerable to expulsion at any time. She also said
the Assyrian church is very patriarchal. As an example of this,
she claimed that when Assyrian church officials participate in
events relating to interfaith dialogue, they never invite the
sisters. She added that the nuns feel that their own situation
is fragile despite their Iranian citizenship. For example, she
said they were likely to face (unspecified) repercussions if
they did not vote in elections, although she did not indicate
any pressure to vote for specific candidates. She also
mentioned their suspicion that the government monitors their
emails and telephone calls.

Christians leaving
--------------

7.(S//NF) The nun said, similar to other sources, that there is
high rate of emigration of Christians from Iran, although she
did not indicate whether the reason was because of specific
persecution or general economic or social pressures. She said
there is an organization in Austria that helps Christians, as
well as Muslims, emigrate from Iran to the US at a cost of
$3000. She estimated the Assyrian community in Iran today to be
15-20,000. She did not give an estimate for the Catholic
community, only indicating that it is very small.


RPO DUBAI 00000058 002.2 OF 002


Obstacles to a new center
--------------

8.(S//NF) The nuns have been attempting to build a much larger
community center just outside of Tehran for the past ten years
but have had difficulty obtaining needed permission and funding,
the nun said. She detailed the frustrations of dealing with the
municipality, which has granted them building permits, but for
insufficient time frames to complete the project, and then
withheld renewals for months or years. They were also in
dispute with the Agriculture ministry, which claimed they were
building on land meant for agriculture. The nun bemoaned the
corruption of government officials, adding (without details)
that "everything depends on the Pasdaran (IRGC)." In addition
to their woes in dealing with the government, the nun said that
the costs of construction had risen significantly since the
government began forcibly expelling illegal Afghan immigrants,
who had provided cheap construction labor.

Reason for meeting
--------------

9.(S//NF) The nun, whose request to meet a USG official had been
passed to IRPO through an Emirati contact of Embassy Abu Dhabi,
solicited USG funding to complete the new community center. She
said the nuns currently have a valid building permit but lack
funds to complete the project. They have reportedly exhausted
funding from the Vatican and need approximately 500,000 euros
(USD 683,250) to complete the project. IRPOff replied that USG
funding for projects of this sort is uncommon, suggesting the
nuns seek out Christian charitable organizations in the US and
elsewhere, an idea the nun appeared not to have considered. The
nun acknowledged the difficulty they would face in bringing in
any funding from the US or other countries. She said that
funding from the Vatican came through the Vatican's diplomatic
pouch, but she doubted that other countries would be able to
bring them funds in a similar manner.

10.(S//NF) Action request: Please advise if the USG wants to
try to pursue this request for funding for a Christian community
center in Iran in any way. IRPO does not see a direct USG
interest in such a project, but the USG could convey the
details to relevant religious groups. It is not known whether
the Vatican would agree to transfer funds on behalf of another
religious organization.
BURNS