Ethnic Iranians are seen as being Muslim, and carrying out any Christian activities in their Farsi language is illegal. An Iranian man who leaves Islam can be sentenced to death and a woman to life imprisonment, although such sentences haven’t been carried out for more than 20 years. However, in 2017 over a dozen Christians – most of them converts to Christianity – were given prison sentences of between 10 and 15 years for “acting against national security”. According to religious freedom watchdog Article 18, such political charges attempt “to avoid international outcry at religiously motivated charges”. Several imprisoned Iranian Christians have undertaken hunger strikes in protest.
Abedini ‘accused of spying’
Iran’s Bultan News has accused Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-American pastor serving an eight-year prison sentence, of spying for the White House, according to Mohabat News. Abedini was also reportedly accused of spreading ‘Zionist Christianity’, planting house churches illegally and preying on vulnerable young Iranians, such as orphans and recovering drug addicts.
Tehran church faces closure after pastor’s arrest
The sign on the church in Tehran: ‘This church is closed due to major repairs. Please do not return!Article 18 The future of the central Assemblies of God church in Tehran hangs in the balance, following the arrest of one of its pastors last week. Iranian authorities continue to […]
Iranian pastor arrested
An Iranian pastor was arrested on Tuesday (May 21) in the midst of a church service in central Tehran. Churches in Iran are under increasing pressure to stop all services held in Farsi, reports Mohabat News. Robert Asseriyan, pastor of the Assemblies of God church, was arrested and taken to an […]
Iranian Christians face ‘systematic persecution and prosecution’
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani greets his wife Fatemah after his release from prison in September 2012.Nadarkhani family for World Watch Monitor Iran’s treatment of its Christian minority has come under fresh scrutiny in recent months with some damning verdicts on the country’s human rights record. Reports from the UK’s Foreign […]
Iranian men ‘destroyed’ by rape
Rape is being used systematically to ‘destroy’ the reputation and dignity of anti-government activists in Iran. (BBC)
Iranian website ‘hacked’ again
Mohabat News, a website for Christians in Iran, claims “cyber hackers hired by the Islamic regime of Iran” hacked the site on a number of occasions, leaving its readers unable to view content. The website published a note, apologising for interruptions to its service and labelling the hacking a “cyber-crime” […]
Wife worries she won’t hear husband’s voice for 8 years
The wife of an American citizen sentenced to an Iranian prison for eight years expects she won’t hear from her husband until 2021, unless U.S. pressure is able to pry him free. Naghmeh Shariat Panahi told World Watch Monitor that the last time she heard Saeed Abedini’s voice was Jan. […]
US demands release of American pastor from Iranian prison
Stepping up the urgency of American response, the White House on Friday called on Iran to release a jailed American pastor facing a trial that could send him to the gallows. Saeed Abedini, a native of Iran and a naturalized American citizen, is expected to enter one of Iran’s revolutionary […]
Jailed Iranian pastor, once facing death, walks free
An Iranian pastor who faced a death sentence because of accusations he abandoned Islam for Christianity walked out jail a free man Saturday, according to a Christian human-rights organisation. After 2 years, 11 months behind bars, Yousef Nadarkhani emerged from jail to rejoin his wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, and their two sons, reported […]
Iranian authorities shut church in Tehran
Authorities in Iran this week ordered the closure of a church in the capital, Tehran, amid a government campaign to crack down on the few recognized churches offering Farsi-speaking services, according to a human rights group. The order came from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Intelligence branch on Tuesday (June 5). The […]