A new survey on the growth of Christianity in Iran suggests there could soon be 1 million Iranian Christians living in the Islamic Republic, CBN News reports. Carried out by the non-profit Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN), the survey questioned 50,000 Iranians, 90% of whom live in the country. The survey showed that 1.5% of respondents identified as Christian.
A prominent Pentecostal pastor and his wife have fled Iran after their appeal against a 15-year combined prison sentence for Christian activities failed, rights activists and family confirmed late Tuesday.
A Christian convert in Iran has won an appeal against conviction for “insulting the sacred beliefs of Muslims,” but lost his appeal against two charges of inciting “propaganda against the state” and for “membership of a [“Zionist” evangelical] group hostile to the regime” respectively, the Christian Post reports. Ismaeil Maghrebinejad was arrested in January 2019 and sentenced by a civil court in January 2020 to a total of six years imprisonment on the original three charges.
Thousands of Iranian Muslims have left Islam and have put their faith in Jesus Christ since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Iran in March, CBN News reports.
At least 12 Christians are understood to have been arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRG) in what is believed to have been a coordinated round-up last week, the Christian Post reports. Announced by Article 18, a UK-based human rights non-profit organization, the arrests were said to have taken place in the cities of Tehran, Karaj and Malayer on June 30 and July 1.
Iran has detained or intimidated dozens of devoted Christians in recent days as part of government efforts to halt the spread of Christianity in the Islamic nation, investigators say.
Seven people who turned from Islam to Christianity have received prison terms, fines, or work restrictions in Iran for “propaganda against the state,” trial observers confirmed Wednesday.
An Iranian Christian rights activist who was jailed for protesting against Iran’s Islamic government says more than a dozen Christians remain behind bars in the country’s overcrowded prisons.
Religious freedom group Open Doors USA has been told that Christians in Iran are risking their lives to help fellow citizens with food and hygiene parcels during the coronavirus outbreak, Fox News reported Thursday. Known internationally for its radical Islamic terrorism, Iran is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East.
Supporters of detained Iranian Christian Ismaeil Maghrebinejad say a court has increased his prison sentence for evangelical activities in Iran.
Four former Muslims who became Christians and part of Iran’s leading house church movements have been freed from an Iranian jail, Christian activists confirmed Thursday. Kathrin Sajadpour, Moslem Rahimi, and another Christian, of the ‘Church of Iran,’ were reportedly freed on a reduced bail of 200 million tomans ($11,500) this week, Wednesday.
An Iranian Christian father and his young son were among hundreds of asylum seekers on their way to more freedom Thursday after Hungary’s government closed prison-like transit zones.
Christian rights activist Mary (Fatemeh) Mohammadi says she has been sentenced to three months and one-day imprisonment and 10 lashes for publicly protesting Iran’s downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane.
A Christian in Iran sent to languish in a remote desert town after a seven-year prison sentence found a warm welcome from local Muslims, according to a new YouTube interview.
Iranian authorities have released another Christian convert from prison amid concerns the new coronavirus COVID-19 could spread in overcrowded jails, Christian activists said Monday. Amin Khaki, 38, learned from prison authorities Monday that he should not return to jail, confirmed well-informed advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC). “It is expected that he will be able to reclaim the money put down as security,” MEC told Worthy News.
Iran has released a Christian woman who was jailed after refusing to reconvert to Islam, activists confirmed to Worthy News. Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari, 62, is among some 85,000 prisoners freed in recent weeks amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19.
‘Evangelical Zionist Christianity’ is the charge laid against a Christian convert in Iran whose prison sentence the government recently extended.
Iranian Christians are asking for prayer support as the Islamic Republic, in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, has begun releasing huge crowds of prisoners that include persecuted Christians.
The sentences of nine Iranian Christian converts were upheld after a judge who has become notorious for persecuting prisoners of conscience barred them from using their own lawyers.
An Iranian Christian convert from Islam has been denied asylum in the UK after a judge concluded he would not face a ‘real act of persecution’ by staying in his home country.