Iran: Christian convert taken into custody for house church involvement
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Iran’s intelligence authorities have taken a Christian convert into custody, accusing him of “propaganda against the [Iranian Islamic] regime through involvement in house church activities.”
A resident of Anzali in northern Iran, Rahmat Rostamipour was arrested following a raid on his home by dozens of Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) agents on April 18. The raid took place in the presence of his family, and was so distressing it caused Rostamipour’s teenage daughter to have a panic attack, Article 18 reports.
In addition to taking Rostamipour into custody, the MOIS agents confiscated Bibles and the family’s phones and ID cards among other property, Article 18 said.
A day after the raid Rostamipour’s wife, Azar, was ordered to attend the MOIS Office in Anzali where she was interrogated for hours, Article 18 reports. While the couple have not yet been formally charged, Azar was also accused of engaging in propaganda through her involvement in a house church.
“Converts from Islam to Christianity are most at risk of persecution, especially by the government…” the Open Doors Christian advocacy group explains in a website statement on the persecution of believers in Iran. “The government sees the growth of the church in Iran as an attempt by Western countries to undermine Islam and the Islamic regime of Iran,” Open Doors explains.
Iran ranks 9th on the US Open Doors World Watch List of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.