Tag: Church of Iran

Iran continues to arrest Christians, on eve of 40th anniversary of revolution

February 13, 2019 Iran Church of Iran, Iran, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Rasht, Saheb Fadaie, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

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

Iran’s security officials have arrested three Christians who were leading a house church in the absence of their pastor who is serving a ten-year jail sentence, reports Article 18. In the latest raid on a non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran” on Sunday, 10 February, in the northern city of Rasht, officers . . . Read More

Iranian Christians sentenced, verdict says ‘claiming Jesus is Lord is attack against Islam’

October 2, 2018 Iran Church of Iran, Converts, House churches, Iran, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Rasht, Saheb Fadaie, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Two Iranian Christians have been given prison sentences for “spreading propaganda against the regime”, reports Middle East Concern. Saheb Fadaei and Fatimeh Bakhteri, who belong to the non-Trinitarian “Church of Iran”, were sentenced to 18 and 12 months, respectively. Middle East Concern noted that in the verdict it was written . . . Read More

US commission calls for Iranian Christians’ release after ‘new miscarriage of justice’

August 2, 2018 Iran Amir Saman Dashti, Church of Iran, Evin Prison, Hassan Rouhani, House churches, Human rights, Iran, Kermanshah, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Proselytism, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Rasht, Religious freedom, Saheb Fadaie, USA, Victor Bet-Tamraz, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

From left: Saheb Fadaie, Youcef Nadarkhani, Yasser Mossayebzadeh and Mohammad Reza Omidi.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of an Iranian pastor and three of his church members, after they were taken to prison last week to serve ten-year sentences for “acting against national security” by “promoting Zionist Christianity” and running “house . . . Read More

Iranian pastor taken to Evin Prison after violent raid on home

July 24, 2018 Iran Church of Iran, Evin Prison, Exile, Iran, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Rasht, Saheb Fadaie, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been taken to Evin Prison in the capital, Tehran, after a violent raid on his home in the northern city of Rasht on Sunday (22 July). The pastor was sentenced to ten years in prison in July of last year, alongside three members of his congregation, and had . . . Read More

Iranian Christian released by ‘courageous’ judge

July 6, 2018 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Babol, Church of Iran, Converts, Gilan, Iran, Mazandaran, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Rasht, Saheb Fadaie, Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, Victor Bet-Tamraz, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

An Iranian Christian has been released from prison after being arrested in April for “propaganda against the [Iranian] establishment”, Middle East Concern reported yesterday, 5 July. Mohammad Ali Yassaghi was kept in Babol Prison in the capital of Mazandaran Province in northern Iran. He is a member of the self-styled Church . . . Read More

Christian children in Iran told: ‘study Islam or leave school’

September 8, 2017 Iran Children, Church of Iran, Ebrahim Firouzi, Eskander Rezaie, Iran, Islamic extremism, Karaj, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Rasht, Saheb Fadaie, Shiraz, Soroush Saraei, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Christian children in two large Iranian cities have been told to either study Shia Islam or leave school. The children are members of the non-Trinitarian ‘Church of Iran’ denomination in the northern city of Rasht, near the Caspian Sea, and the historical southern city of Shiraz, respectively. Until recently the . . . Read More

Iranian pastor released after six years in prison

October 18, 2016 Iran Behnam Irani, Church of Iran, Exile, Iran

An Iranian pastor has been released from prison after serving six years for “acting against national security”. Behnam Irani, from the self-styled “Church of Iran”, was originally given a five-year suspended sentence in 2008. He was re-arrested in 2010 during a service at a “house church” and in 2011 he . . . Read More

Iranian pastor released after 5 years in jail

December 22, 2015 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Church of Iran, Farshid Fathi, Hassan Rouhani

An Iranian pastor has been released early from prison, just six months after he failed to appeal a sentence to an extra year in jail and 74 lashes for allegedly possessing two litres of alcohol in his prison cell. Farshid Fathi was serving a six-year prison sentence – extended to . . . Read More

Iranian Christians released ‘temporarily’

December 8, 2015 Iran Church of Iran, Eskander Rezaie, Iran, Shiraz

Three Iranian Christians have been released from prison in the southern city of Shiraz. Although officially they have been granted only temporary leave, that they have been led to believe they will not have to return. Mehdi Ameruni, Seyed Bijan Farokhpour Haghigi and Eskander Rezai were arrested at a prayer . . . Read More

Iranian Christian released

November 13, 2015 Iran Church of Iran, Iran, Shiraz, Soroush Saraei

An Iranian Christian has been released from prison in the southern city of Shiraz, reports Middle East Concern. Soroush Saraei had been in prison since July 2014 and was serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for “action against national security” and “propaganda against the order of the system”. He was arrested alongside . . . Read More

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