Iran has detained dozens of Christians on charges of espionage and “anti-security activities” for Israel, drawing condemnation from rights groups who call the move part of a broader crackdown on the country’s tiny Christian minority.
An evangelical pastor who spent two years under house arrest in Iran for his Christian faith has urged U.S. President Donald J. Trump to halt the deportation of Iranian Christians, warning they could face imprisonment or even execution for abandoning Islam.
Iranian Christian convert Mehran Shamlooei was arrested on July 3 upon arrival at Mashhad International Airport after being deported from Turkey, where he had sought refuge to avoid serving a harsh prison sentence handed down for his faith.
A devastating plea for prayer has emerged from Lebanon as Pastor Chady El Aouad of Abundant Life Church in Beirut confirmed the martyrdom of a fellow minister and over 20 of his family members amid the violent upheaval in Suweida, Syria. Pastor Khaled Mezhir, leader of the Good Shepherd Evangelical Church in Suweida, was reportedly killed along with his wife, parents, and extended family during fierce fighting between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin factions in the war-torn southern province.
The U.S. government’s watchdog investigating persecution of Christians and other religious groups has warned that allies of Syria’s government and other groups continue their deadly crackdown on Christians and other minorities, including Druze and Shia Muslims.
Syria’s top Christian leader has blamed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government for a deadly church blast on Sunday that killed dozens, while fellow persecuted Christians also expressed their sorrow.
The United Nations special envoy for Syria has condemned Sunday’s attack at a church on the outskirts of Damascus that killed at least 20 people as a “heinous crime”.
Two men who abandoned Islam and turned to faith in Christ have been forced to flee Iran, where they were sentenced to 12 years in prison each on charges linked to possessing “multiple copies of the Bible,” Christians told Worthy News.
Friends of a detained Christian woman in Tehran urged fellow believers to pray for her on Wednesday after Iran’s authorities demanded $135,000 in local currency for her release.
There was concern Friday about the detained wife of Pastor Joseph Shahbazian, who was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for his Christian work in Iran.
Eitan Bar, a well-known Messianic Jewish evangelist and former leader at ONE FOR ISRAEL, announced on social media that he could face up to six months in prison as a result of an ongoing legal case targeting his evangelistic work in Israel.
Christians have urged prayers for four detained Christians in Iran, including frail Pastor Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who was recently detained again after he already served 5 years in prison for activities linked to his faith in Christ.
An Iranian court has sentenced a Christian woman pregnant with her first child to 16 years imprisonment while two other believers also received lengthy jail terms for activities related to the Christian faith, trial observers confirmed Wednesday.
Two Christians in their 60s, who were “pardoned” and released after serving a combined six years in prison for leading house churches in Iran, have been re-arrested, a non-profit organization advocating for persecuted Christians reported.
Christians in Syria have reported they are worried for their futures as the country gets used to a new Islamic government following the ousting of dictator Bashar al-Assad on December 8 last year.
A new annual report by the Article 18 Iranian persecution watchdog a dramatic increase in the number and length of prison terms handed to Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran last year compared to 2023.
A leader of the Church of Iran, one of the Islamic Republic’s largest evangelical house church movements, was free Monday after being released from Minab prison in Hormozgan province in southern Iran, Christians told Worthy News.
Christians expressed concern Thursday about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Syria, a day after gunmen attacked an Orthodox church in the west-central city of Hama following other anti-Christian incidents.
Three Iranian Christians, who were previously known as Muslims, have been released after ten days in detention just weeks after another Christian was freed after years in jail for his faith, Christians say.
The US-based Global Christian Relief ministry has reported that humanitarian supplies delivered for 20,000 Christians in Syria have been hijacked by militants with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist rebel group which captured Aleppo and toppled the Syrian government on Sunday, December 8, Crosswalk reports.