Guli Francis-Dehqani An Anglican bishop who fled Iran after the 1979 revolution has warned the country’s ruling regime may be nearing its end — but cautioned that the final phase could be violent and unpredictable. Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Church of England Bishop of Chelmsford, said the government in Tehran appears increasingly desperate to cling to power. Speaking from the UK, she said she currently cannot reach friends or contacts inside Iran as communications collapse amid escalating turmoil. “I think this regime is in its death throes,” she said. “But death throes can last a very long time.” A childhood shaped by the revolution Francis-Dehqani’s warning carries personal weight. Born in Iran in 1966, she fled the country after the revolution that overthrew the Shah and brought the Islamic Republic to power. Her father, Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, the Anglican bishop in Iran, was detained when their home was raided. The family endured an attempted assassination and the murder of her brother, Bahram Dehqani-Tafti. They eventually settled in Britain as refugees when she was just 14. That history, she says, shapes her fears about what might come next. Brutal crackdown signals regime survival mode Francis-Dehqani believes the Iranian leadership now feels an existential threat and is acting with escalating brutality. Recent crackdowns on dissent, she said, suggest a regime focused purely on survival rather than reform. Western governments should not assume Tehran is unprepared for conflict, she warned, noting that Iran has repeatedly surprised its adversaries. “They are doing whatever they can to survive another day,” she said. Starmer right to avoid joining strikes The bishop, who sits in the House of Lords, also backed the decision by Keir Starmer not to join the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran. She said Britain was right to question whether the attacks had a clear legal basis under international law, arguing that further erosion of global rules risks worsening instability. International law, she added, already appears “in shreds”. Fear of chaos if regime falls Despite her belief the regime may eventually collapse, Francis-Dehqani warned that the aftermath could be even more dangerous. Iran lacks a unified opposition capable of stabilising the country, she said. Rival factions — some potentially more extreme than the current authorities — could compete for power. “If the regime collapses in chaos,” she said, “I really fear civil war and massive bloodshed.” Iran regime 'in its death throes' but 'shouldn't be underestimated'
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