Iran: Five Christian Converts Sentenced to Prison Terms on Unspecified Charges, “Conversion From Islam to Christianity is Illegal in Iran”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Five Christian converts from Islam in Iran have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine months to 15 years for reasons that have not been made public, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The Jerusalem Post reports that news of the Christians’ sentences was first broken by the Hengraw human rights group which advocates for Kurds in Iran, but there is no information available on the nature of the charges.

All five men are reported to have converted to Christianity from Islam. Yasin Mousavi was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamid Afzali was sentenced to 10 years, Nasrollah Mousavi, Bijan Gholizadeh, and Iman Salehi each received five years, and Zohrab Shahbazi was given a nine months prison sentence.

In a website statement about the current situation facing Christian converts in Iran, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization attestts: “For Christians who convert from Islam, not even the veneer of tolerance is present. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is illegal in Iran, and anyone caught as a convert can be arrested and imprisoned.”

“The government views conversion as an attempt by the West to undermine Islam and the Islamic government of Iran,” Open Doors says. “This means that anyone who is discovered to be a member of a house church can be charged with a crime against national security, which can lead to long prison sentences.”

Ruled by a paranoid dictatorial Islamic regime since 1979, Iran ranks nine on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

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