Rebecca Duffett spoke with Darius Radmanesh about living under the Iranian regime and how he escaped

Darius: Yes they did. My mother and little sister came and my father was able to arrange forged documents where they able to be smuggled out. They went to Switzerland and then my father escaped to Turkey.

Rebecca: What was life like when you got back to America and now you're in London, how did you end up there?

Darius: Well, that's an interesting story itself. I met my wife, she's British and we met and I so loved the accent. We got married and here we are. As for my life after I got to America, it was unbelievable. I was very excited and happy. I spent most of my childhood and early teens in a country like Iran where you're not allowed to think, say, even do what you want without fear of reprisal from the regime, so for me that was unbelievable, it really was.

Rebecca: Do you think that the regime in Iran can or will change?

Darius: Well, the truth of the matter is that the Iranian people, 99.9% of those people want that regime out. We've seen the uprising back in 2008. That right there in itself is a clear indication as to what the Iranian people want. Now as to what's going to happen or not that's a totally different issue. That depends on the world, what the world does, how the world addresses the crises, the very serious threat which this regime poses onto not only the Middle East, but to the rest of the world. This is not an issue about the West verses this regime or even Christians or Jews verses the regime. There are innocent Moslems, devout Moslems every day who are suffering as well under this tyranny. My Grandmother, God rest her soul, my father's mom she was a devout Moslem, she had been since she was a little girl. She couldn't read or write and yet she could recite the Koran from cover to cover by memory in Arabic and then translate it back into the Iranian tongue Farsi and yet from day one she was opposed to this regime. Day one 1979, she pointed her finger at that screen when Khomeini came off the plane at Tehran after he had been exiled in France. She said, 'This man is not of God. He will destroy the world and Iran with it'. This is coming from a devout Moslem. Like I said this regime, which way it goes depends entirely on how the rest of the international community deals with it. That's all I can say.

Rebecca: How many people are actually escaping the regime?

Darius: During the war years many. When I escaped there was a minimum of 15 or 20 other guys with me when I escaped. They were all escaping from the war. There was a couple escaping for political reasons, but I know that during the Iran/Iraq war thousands of people escaped; young boys and so forth. They went to Turkey, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and they came to Europe. However, even to this day there are still many who are fleeing either because they are Baha'i's; as I mentioned the Baha'i's are being persecuted immensely almost on a day to day basis over there; Christians now and Jews, so they're still leaving. I don't have an exact number of course but I'm sure the number's pretty high.

Rebecca: What are you doing now and what are your plans for the future?

Darius: Well, I'm with my wife and our five year old beautiful little boy, God bless him, he's something else and we definitely want to move back home to America. I'm very committed to getting our story out and primarily within the Christian community and to let them know what's going on. I'm sure you'll agree this day and age today, us Christians are facing a very unfortunate increased level of persecution from one source or another and I think that it's very important that the word gets out that there is a God and if you have faith in Jesus Christ and God you can overcome anything. That's my task; that's my goal.