Youssef, an Assyrian musician and orchestra performer from Iran, founded the Massy Ensemble and has produced concerts ranging from folk, fusion to church music. Before he left Iran he was repeatedly arrested and interrogated, despite having no political involvements, and left the country to resettled in the United States. He founded the Gilgamesh Cultural and Artistic Foundation, where he also leads the Gilgamesh Philharmonic, and the Iranian Choir of America.
"For a long time after arriving in America, the nightmare of detention haunted me," Youssef says. "I constantly feared that the door would suddenly open, and I would be arrested and taken away. To them, I was a criminal because I was an artist and a Christian."
In an interview with IranWire, Youssef recounts his life as a Christian artist, describing the security encounters, arrests, and enduring nightmares that continue to affect him, even years after he left Iran. As a member of the Iranian Assyrian community - the oldest Christian community in Iran - his story not only reflects his personal experiences but also sheds light on the broader concerns and living conditions of Iranian Assyrians.
Assyrians in Iran
The Assyrians, people whose history intertwines with the likes of Cyrus the Great and the mighty Persian Empire, find themselves suppressed by the Islamic Republic.
In Iran, the terms Assyrian, Chaldean, Armenian, and Christian are often used interchangeably by the general public, with little distinction made between them. However, these groups are distinct, sharing only their Christian faith.
The Assyrians are originally a Semitic people who lived around the Tigris River. Initially under Babylonian rule, they later established the Assyrian Empire as their power expanded. After the conquest of Babylon, a large number of Assyrians were brought to Iran by the Achaemenid army when Cyrus the Great was ruling the Persian Empire. By integrating their language, culture, and especially their music and farming, they became part of Iranian society.
Over time, they contributed significantly to Persian culture, to the extent that many of Iran's cultural traditions - ranging from music and holidays to cuisine and language roots - are influenced by Assyrian civilization.
Hannibal Youssef, an Assyrian musician, explains the distinction more simply: "We are two different peoples from two different races. Assyrians are Semites, while Armenians are from a different race. Our only shared point with Armenians is Christianity. To understand this better, consider an African Muslim and an Iranian Muslim - both share the same faith but come from entirely different geographical and ethnic backgrounds. Our languages are different, and our branches of Christianity - Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox - may also differ."
Loneliness and Discrimination: Hannibal's Experience
Throughout his life, Youssef experienced two key emotions: loneliness and discrimination, because he was a member of a minority group and they grew stronger as he aged. He explains: "The types of questions and curiosities I encountered changed with each stage of life. Because of my father's job, we lived in various cities, some with very few non-Muslims. People were often curious about me - a child with colored eyes, wearing shorts, and with a name very different from theirs."
The discrimination often set him apart as a child and young adult and sometimes extended to his family. "At different times, the reactions varied. For example, a school once questioned why our neighbor's daughter, who was Muslim, was friends with an Armenian boy and have contacts with an Armenian family."
As he grew older, he also experienced positive discrimination. "My childhood was before the revolution when people had stronger religious prejudices. In the first years after the revolution, religious bias, especially towards Islam, was still prevalent, and it bothered me."
Over time, the nature of these interactions changed. "As we moved away from the early revolutionary fervor, Shia prejudices diminished, and people became more curious about other religions, starting with Christianity. Later, they looked to Zoroastrianism in their quest for Iranian origins, and today atheism has become more widespread. At one point, I was subject to positive discrimination when people's attention turned to Christianity."
He notes that this positive discrimination had broader implications for the Assyrian community and the Christian faith in Iran. "Since the time of the Shah, we've had Persian-speaking churches conducting evangelistic activities, particularly for those who had recently converted to Christianity.
"These churches continued to operate even after the revolution and were quite successful during the time when interest in alternative religions grew. However, with the Islamic Republic's security measures and the serial murders of prominent figures, their activities were reduced. Satellite TV stations began broadcasting Christian teachings, and people started to withdraw from these in-person religious activities."
Legal Encounters: The Encirclement Tightens
Hannibal Youssef spent his school years across different cities in Iran before settling in Tehran, where he attended the Assyrian school. He recalls that official discriminatory attitudes began to emerge during this period. "The first step was to separate boys and girls," he says. "We studied in the same school and shared the same bus service, but inside the school, they built a wall between the boys and girls. Later, the principal was replaced by a Muslim, and over time, the educational content changed. They even reduced the hours dedicated to the Assyrian language."
Some of the problems gradually became law in the Islamic Republic. The official employment of minorities in education - and all government, military, and law enforcement agencies, including kindergartens - was banned. For nearly thirty years, principals of minority schools were chosen exclusively from among Muslims, citing the requirement that the principal be an employee of the Ministry of Education, a position minorities were not allowed to hold.
Hidden Collaborators of the Government
Youssef discusses another form of control used by the government in minority communities. He says that, beyond discriminatory policies, the Islamic Republic used a method of covert surveillance, assigning people from within the community - those familiar with its dynamics and language - who also maintained close ties with the government. These individuals would report on the community, ensuring that no one crossed any "red lines."
According to Youssef, one such figure was Yonathan Betkolia, the Assyrian representative in Iran's parliament during his time there. Youssef recalls Betkolia's role in appeasing the government, saying, "He would attend international meetings and the United Nations with high-ranking officials like the Larijani brothers, asserting that minorities were well-treated and faced no issues which were not true.
Youssef, who pursued a professional career in music, explains how this environment stifled creativity and fostered fear. "I always tried to innovate and bring something new to the table, but there was always this concern - what if my concert gets canceled, or I'm arrested?"
He recounts one instance where he included a female singer in his concert in Tehran. "I was worried they would shut us down on that pretext, but luckily, they didn't."
Despite his lack of political involvement, Youssef was arrested and interrogated multiple times throughout his career. "The first time I was arrested was on my music teacher's birthday. A week after we held a successful concert in 2005, we arranged a small celebration in Damavand for the group's leader. Suddenly, police and military vehicles arrived and took us away - despite the fact that there was no alcohol, no drugs, and we weren't even dancing. My interrogator asked, 'Who is your representative?' It was then that I realized this was code. It meant, 'We, along with your representative, are keeping an eye on you.'"
The phrase became a symbol of force and coercion, rather than the protection or advocacy one might expect from a parliamentary representative. "Every day, I lived in fear of being arrested," Youssef says. "Even though I had no involvement in political movements, I was always anxious. They came to my house without a warrant, pretending to be postmen, just to arrest me for my art. From that point on, I expected to be taken away at any moment - even from the street."
When he was arrested, it was 10 days after final his performance in Iran during which an unknown number called and threatened to shut down the show, but Youssef argued back and that everything was properly licensed. The performance continued without incident.
However, ten days later, the situation escalated. "I was at my father's house when the phone rang. The person on the line asked, 'Is Hannibal Youssef there? We have a letter for him from the post office.' My mother confirmed my presence, and about an hour later, plainclothes officers arrived. Without introducing themselves, they grabbed my hand at the door to handcuff me. I made enough noise that they had to come inside the house."
The officers searched the house before taking Youssef to a police station. He was interrogated there and later at Evin Prison, with no charges disclosed. "They printed out all my Facebook pages, asking why I belonged to certain groups or liked specific pages, such as the Bahman group. In every interrogation, there was one common question: 'Who is your representative in the parliament?' And the answer was always the same - Yonathan Betkolia."
The Danger of an Ethnic Group Extinction
In the US, although the oppressive security pressures of Iran are no longer present, Hannibal Youssef and his fellow Assyrians now face a different set of challenges as a minority in a new environment. One of the biggest issues is the risk of assimilation, which threatens the preservation of both their Assyrian and Iranian identities. Like many other minority groups far from their homeland, the Assyrians struggle to maintain a connection to their roots in this new society.
According to Youssef, the pressures faced in Iran forced the Assyrian community to unite and prioritize the preservation of their identity. One significant issue that emerged under these circumstances was that of marriage - a common challenge for many small, religious minority groups. Intragroup marriage became a survival strategy for populations with dwindling numbers.
Youssef explains: "Our community had two perspectives when it came to welcoming new members - whether through marriage or conversion to Christianity. On one hand, we wanted to engage in evangelistic activities and invite others to Christianity, but on the other, there was resistance within the Assyrian society due to a long history of discriminatory treatment by Muslims and painful memories of past atrocities. Some members did not want outsiders to join our community, while others welcomed new members."
However, this dynamic has changed in the US. "Outside of Iran, our community is slowly fading," Youssef says.
"We would like our children to marry within the community, but with the population scattered and surrounded by people from different backgrounds, our children meet and fall in love with non-Assyrians. They marry, have children, and settle here. Over time, Iran becomes a distant memory, and their Assyrian identity gradually fades."
or register to post a comment.