Tag: Iran

Iranian convert to Christianity – ‘If I went back, I’d be killed’

February 5, 2018 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Baptism, Converts, Hadi Asgari, Iran, Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, UK, Victor Bet-Tamraz

A church in the UK has survived closure because of attendance by a growing number of asylum seekers from a Muslim background, reports the BBC. In the past two years 324 asylum-seekers have been baptised at Tredegarville Baptist Church in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Now 95 per cent of . . . Read More

Iran protests saw people ‘turn their backs on political Islam’

January 25, 2018 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Ayatollah Khomeini, Donald Trump, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Mashhad, Shia, Syria, USA, Yemen

Ayatollah Khomeini spoke about human rights and religious freedom when he returned to Iran 40 years ago. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Iranians are challenging the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic because corruption and inequality undermine its ideals, a human rights activist has claimed. In an interview with World Watch Monitor, Mansour Borji, Iranian-born advocacy director of UK-based human rights charity Article 18, said the street protests that spread across the country . . . Read More

A Middle Eastern Christian’s view of Pence’s agenda

January 22, 2018 Donald Trump, Egypt, Human rights, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jerusalem, Middle East, Mike Pence, Palestinian Territories, Refugees, Saudi Arabia, Syria, USA, West Bank

A Jordanian Christian trauma counsellor has urged US Vice President Mike Pence to recognise Palestinian statehood to make good his pledge to help Christians in the Middle East. Issam Smeir, who has worked with refugees in the Middle East and in the US, wrote a first-person piece for the Washington . . . Read More

Iran: Wife of convicted pastor gets jail sentence of her own

January 12, 2018 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Hadi Asgari, Iran, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, Victor Bet-Tamraz

Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, the wife of Victor Bet-Tamraz

The wife of an Iranian pastor sentenced to ten years in jail has been given a five-year sentence of her own. Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, the wife of Victor Bet-Tamraz, was convicted of “acting against national security and against the regime by organising small groups, attending a seminary abroad and training . . . Read More

Iran: 2 Christians given 8-year prison sentences

January 10, 2018 Iran Ebrahim Firouzi, Eskander Rezaie, Iran, Refugees, Shiraz, Soroush Saraei, USA

The outside of the Evin prison in Tehran. Photo: Flickr/ SabzPhoto

Two Iranian Christians in the southern city of Shiraz have been sentenced to eight years in prison for “action against national security”, proselytising and holding “house-church” meetings. Eskander Rezaie and Soroush Saraei, who have both spent time in prison before, will appeal their sentences, according to Christian advocacy group Middle . . . Read More

Iranian Christians safe if ‘practise faith discreetly’ – European Court of Human Rights

January 8, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Aideen Strandsson, Asylum seekers, Europe, Germany, Human rights, Iran, Religious freedom, Sweden, Switzerland

Activists in the Swiss capital of Bern raise awareness of religious persecution of Christians around the world (2014). (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The European Court of Human Rights ruled last month that an Iranian who sought asylum in Switzerland based on religious grounds could be deported to his home country because his life was not in danger, despite various reports detailing how Iran persecutes religious minorities and converts to Christianity. Human Rights . . . Read More

US State Department adds Pakistan to religious-freedom watch list

January 5, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Central African Republic, China, Eritrea, Iran, Minorities, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Russia, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Burial of victims of a suicide attack on the Methodist Bethel Church in Quetta, Pakistan, on Sunday 17 December 2017 in which at least 9 people were killed. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The US State Department has placed Pakistan on a “Special Watch List” for severe violators of religious freedom, it announced yesterday (4 January) with the publication of its annual list of ‘Countries of Particular Concern’. The announcement comes as the US government cuts security aid to Pakistan, saying the country . . . Read More

Iranian Christmas: Inconspicuous decorations … then celebrating behind bars

December 27, 2017 Iran Christmas, House churches, Iran, Prisons, Shiraz

How do Christians under pressure for their faith celebrate Christmas? In the fourth of our series we hear from an Iranian Christian who spent three years – and three Christmases – in prison. Because converting away from Islam is illegal in Iran, house churches meet in secret and Christmas is . . . Read More

Iran: Four Christian converts detained after police raid houses and businesses

December 20, 2017 Iran Iran, Karaj

Four Iranian Christian converts were arrested by police last week in Karaj, a city 52 km west of the capital Tehran. A spokesman for advocacy organisation Article 18, Kiaa Aalipour, said that “Milad Goudarzi, Amin Khaki, Alireza Nour-Mohammadi and Shehabuddin Shahi were all arrested by security forces on Tuesday, December . . . Read More

Freedom of thought ‘regressing on a global scale’

December 6, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Apostasy, Asia Bibi, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Comoros, Education, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Human rights, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Qatar, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, The Gambia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

There are many Pakistani Christian women like Aasiya Noreen who live in fear of the Blasphemy law in their country and the (potential of) abuse. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The 2017 Freedom of Thought Report, presented yesterday (5 December), should be alarming “to all who care about freedom of thought and expression”, as it shows “a pattern of regression on a global scale”, says its editor, Bob Churchill. The report, published by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) . . . Read More

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