Juliana Taimoorazy

Juliana Taimoorazy (; born 1973) is an Assyrian American activist from Iran. She is the founder and current president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, a position that she's held since its inception in 2007. From 2015 to 2020, she was a senior fellow with the Philos Project, an organization that aims to increase Christian engagement in the Middle East. She became a refugee when her family left Iran in 1989, and was subsequently granted asylum in the US at the age of 17 in 1990.

Early life and background Juliana Taimoorazy was born in 1973 in the Imperial State of Iran

Taimoorazy fondly describes her life before the Islamic Revolution in Iran as one that granted religious and cultural freedom to Assyrians. She was six years old at the time of the revolution. Afterwards, she experienced numerous cases of institutional and social discrimination. At school, she was often told that she would "burn in Hell" for her Christian faith. Other students often attempted to force her to recite the Shahada, which she would refuse.

Believing that their daughter had no future in a country that would discriminate against her for being an Assyrian, a Christian, and a woman, Taimoorazy's parents ultimately made the decision to smuggle her out of Iran at the age of 17.

Taimoorazy was inspired to start the Iraqi Christian Relief Council (ICRC) in 2007 after being told by then-Cardinal Francis George of Chicago that it was her calling to do so. Specifically, he told her, "You have to start an organization that raises awareness among Americans about who the Christians of Iraq are.

According to Taimoorazy, the ICRC did not initially receive very much attention from American officials until the 2014 ISIS invasion of the Assyrian homeland.

Taimoorazy now travels to and from Iraq regularly on humanitarian missions, and the ICRC regularly distributes humanitarian aid to Assyrians in Iraq through the Assyrian Aid Society and the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena in Northern Iraq. As a senior fellow with the Philos Project, she was also able to spearhead their Digital Nineveh Campaign, which raised funds to provide laptops to Assyrian students in the Nineveh Plains.

Taimoorazy has also met with Iraqi parliamentarians to discuss the creation of a Christian province in Iraq. She also discussed the matter with media figures as well, including an interview with Tucker Carlson on Tucker Carlson Tonight.

Taimoorazy has also condemned the government of Turkey for refusing to investigate the disappearances of Assyrian couple Hurmiz and Shimoni Diril. Shimoni's body was later found in a shallow creek. To date, neither the disappearance of Hurmiz nor the death of Shimoni have been investigated by authorities.

Taimoorazy has also supports the passage of House Resolution 537, which would have the United States officially recognize the Assyrian genocide if passed.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taimoorazy signed a joint letter along with representatives from 27 other Non-governmental organizations calling on Iraqi authorities and the United Nations to implement measures aimed at preventing a humanitarian and security catastrophe in Sinjar, Tel Afar, and the Nineveh Plain. Taimoorazy also announced the launch of the Save Those Who Save Lives Campaign, in which the ICRC pledged a $5,000 donation in order to provide masks for healthcare workers in the United States to combat the pandemic.