Arch. Krikor Chiftjian releases a dove as a symbol of peace during Palm Sunday services in Iran on Mar. 29
Armenian churches in Iran solemnly marked Palm Sunday, despite the ongoing U.S.-Israeli attacks on the country, which thus far have claimed one Armenian fatality.
The St. Sarkis, St. Gregory the Illuminator, and St. Minas churches in Tehran, as well as the St. Stepanos and St. Garabed in Nor Julfa, Isfahan held Palm Sunday services, with children participating in the traditional procession of candles, “asking God to grant peace to Iran and the world,” the Beirut-based Aztag Daily newspaper reported.
In their sermons, the spiritual leaders offered prayers, emphasizing that despite the incessant bombardments, the Iranian-Armenian community was able to endure with minimal damage.
“They prayed that on the occasion of Palm Sunday, the brightest holiday of the church, God would put an end to the prevailing state of war, devastation, destruction and deaths, and grant peace to all,” Aztag reported.
Visiting Injured Armenians
On Sunday evening, Ara Shahverdian, a lawmaker representing the Armenian community of Tehran and Northern Iran, accompanied by Reverend Arakel Kahtejian, who is the assistant to Tehran Prelate Archbishop Sebouh Sargsyan, as well as other community leaders visited the Silva and Norig Khachatrian, who were wounded in the first days of the war and are in recovering. The couple’s apartment and vehicle were severely damaged.
The Khachatrians provided the visiting delegation with a detailed account of the events, as well as the status of their recovery. The compensation from the state for the damages was also discussed.
The Palm Sunday services took placed two days after it was reported that Hovhannes Simonian, a resident of the Armenian-populated New Djulfa neighborhood in Isfahan was killed after on Thursday as a result of heavy bombing of the city.
The US-Israeli airstrike on a residential neighborhood in Isfahan on Thursday claimed the lives of 26 people, Iranian officials confirmed Friday. According to the semi-official Fars News Agency, citing the Isfahan Governor’s Office, the victims of Thursday’s attack included seven women and seven children—more than half of the total fatalities.
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