Tag: Iran

Abedini ‘accused of spying’

June 4, 2013 Iran Iran, Saeed Abedini, USA

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.

Iranian pastor arrested

May 23, 2013 Iran Assemblies of God, Iran, Robert Asseriyan, Tehran

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 . . . Read More

Iranian Christians face ‘systematic persecution and prosecution’

May 20, 2013 Iran Ahmed Shaheed, Armenians, Assyrians, Behnam Irani, Converts, Farshid Fathi, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Youcef Nadarkhani

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 . . . Read More

Wife worries she won’t hear husband’s voice for 8 years

January 29, 2013 Iran Evin Prison, House churches, Iran, Saeed Abedini, Tehran, USA

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. . . . Read More

US demands release of American pastor from Iranian prison

January 18, 2013 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Evin Prison, House churches, Iran, Religious freedom, Saeed Abedini, USA

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 . . . Read More

Iranian authorities shut church in Tehran

June 8, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Armenians, Assyrians, Behnam Irani, Churches, Farshid Fathi, Iran, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Shiraz, 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 . . . Read More

Iranian officials heighten control on Farsi-speaking church

May 11, 2012 Iran Armenians, Assemblies of God, Assyrians, Churches, Iran, Tehran

Leaders of the Assemblies of God’s (AOG) Central Church of Tehran told their congregation on Sunday (May 6) that authorities have demanded a list of names and identification numbers of church members, a major risk to converts from Islam. Church leaders then asked members in attendance to volunteer their information. . . . Read More

Lawyer of Iranian pastor on death row faces prison

May 8, 2012 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Converts, Evin Prison, Farshid Fathi, Human rights, Iran, Isfahan, Karaj, Missionaries, Shiraz, Tehran, Youcef Nadarkhani

The main defense lawyer for Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who is appealing a death sentence, may be facing imminent imprisonment for defending the rights of Iranians, according to Amnesty International. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights activist, had been sentenced in July to a nine-year prison sentence and a . . . Read More

Crackdown hits official churches

March 16, 2012 Iran Ahwaz, Assemblies of God, Assyrians, Converts, Dezful, House churches, Iran, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Pentecostals, Proselytism, Shiraz

In a rare crackdown on a concentrated area, Iranian authorities have arrested Christians living in the country’s third largest city in what is seen as a tactic to discourage Muslims and converts to Christianity from attending official churches. Since last month officials have arrested about 12 Christian converts in Isfahan, . . . Read More

Rumors of imminent execution of Iranian pastor unconfirmed

February 24, 2012 Iran Iran, Rasht, Youcef Nadarkhani

Lawyers for an Iranian pastor awaiting a final decision on his death sentence have not received communication from authorities that their client will be executed, despite reports that his death is imminent. Rumors of an imminent execution of Yousef Nadarkhani were leaked this week after a source close to one . . . Read More

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