Tag: Iran

‘Freedom of Religion’: comprehensive report launch

November 4, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Maldives, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Qatar, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zimbabwe

A report showing that religious freedom is compromised in nearly 60 percent of countries worldwide is expected to send a signal to governments and religious leaders that this is an issue that can no longer be ignored. The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need’s Religious Freedom in . . . Read More

Three Iranian Christians sentenced to 6 years each

October 23, 2014 Iran Behnam Irani, Church of Iran, Exile, Iran, Karaj

Iran has dropped capital charges against church leaders Behnam Irani, Abdolreza “Matthias” Ali-Haghnejad and Reza “Silas” Rabbani, but sentenced each of them to six years imprisonment to be served in exile in remote regions of Iran. Initially charged with “spreading corruption on earth,” a charge that carries the death sentence, . . . Read More

Iran appears to fight Islamic State, but are their ultimate goals too similar for comfort?

October 16, 2014 Iran Behnam Irani, Hamas, Hassan Rouhani, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Islamic State, UK, UN, USA

ISISKarl-Ludwig Poggemann / Flickr / Creative Commons It says something about the depths of worldwide revulsion to the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” that Western powers such as the US and the UK have been sitting at the same table with Iran to discuss how to defeat the deadly Islamist movement . . . Read More

Iranian prisoners tortured and beaten

May 19, 2014 Iran Ahwaz, Church of Iran, Iran, Karaj, Prisons, Torture

Two Christian men have been violently tortured and badly beaten in Iran’s prisons. Silas Rabbani, a deacon of the Church of Iran in Karaj, was arrested on May 5 by agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security. Upon his arrest he was informed of the groups’ plan to arrest other . . . Read More

Freedom of religion an issue ‘whose time has come’

February 13, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Arab Spring, Barack Obama, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Middle East, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UN, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Freedom of religion and belief is an issue “whose time has come”, the vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said yesterday. During the presentation of two reports on religious freedom at the European Parliament in Brussels on Feb. 12, commission Vice Chairwoman Katrina Lantos Swett said . . . Read More

Iran: Pastor’s wife released early

January 30, 2014 Iran Ahwaz, Assemblies of God, Converts, Iran, Khuzestan, Proselytism

The wife of an Iranian pastor has been released from prison three months before the end of her sentence. Shahnaz Jayzan, wife of Farhad Sabokrouh, was released on Tuesday (Jan. 28) after serving nine months in jail. She has been released on the condition that neither she nor her husband . . . Read More

Farsi speakers banned from church

January 3, 2014 Iran Armenians, Assemblies of God, Assyrians, Churches, Iran, Tehran

A church in Tehran has become the latest to close its doors to Farsi speakers. St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in the Iranian capital is preventing speakers of the country’s official language from attending following pressure from government officials, reports Mohabat News. Armenians and Assyrians will be permitted to attend the . . . Read More

Iranian converts arrested

December 30, 2013 Iran Behnam Irani, Christmas, Converts, Iran, Karaj, Tehran

Five Iranian converts to Christianity were arrested while celebrating Christmas together in Tehran, reports Mohabat News. Ahmad Bazyar, Fagheh Nasrollahi, Mastaneh Rastegari, Amir-Hossein Ne’matollahi and another man with the surname of Hosseini were arrested on Christmas Eve at Mr. Hosseini’s house and taken to an unknown location. Meanwhile Mohabat News . . . Read More

Retired Iranian pastor jailed

December 13, 2013 Iran Iran

A retired Iranian pastor has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. Rev. Vruir Avanessian, 61, who is of Armenian descent, was found guilty on 5 December of anti-government activities and promotion of ideas contrary to the sanctity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The pastor, who is reported to . . . Read More

Iranians released two weeks early

December 9, 2013 Iran Ahwaz, Apostasy, Converts, Iran, Proselytism

Two Iranian Christians have been released from jail two weeks before the end of their sentences. Farhad Sabokrouh, pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Ahwaz, and Naser Zamen-Dezfuli, were released on December 4, seven months after their incarceration for converting from Islam to Christianity, proselytising Muslims, and propagating . . . Read More

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