Prominent Iranian house church pastor Behnam Irani is still beaten in his prison but less frequently, an official assisting him with advocacy said Monday, just weeks after his family expressed concerns he may die.
Kuwait’s parliament recently passed a bill authorizing the death penalty for Muslims who curse God, the Qu’ran and its prophets, including the wives of the Prophet Mohammed.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s Iranian attorney has been convicted of defending the rights of religious prisoners in the Islamic state and may soon begin serving a lengthy sentence.
Following a February raid on a house church in Shiraz and the arrest of its Christian converts, the first of many interrogations for five detainees was finally held after they spent 80 days in Adel-Abad prison, according to Mohabat News.
Pastor Matthias Haghnejad and eleven members of his congregation were tried in Iran during Easter for their faith in Christ and are now awaiting the verdict.
Historic Christian monuments in Iran are being destroyed, or allowed to fall into disrepair in an attempt by the Islamic authorities to wipe out that country’s Christian heritage.
There was concern over the plight of several Iranian Christian asylum seekers in Sweden Tuesday, April 24, after Swedish authorities decided to deport them despite fears they may be jailed or even executed there, Christians said.
Kuwait’s parliament provisionally passed amendments to its penal code Thursday requiring the death penalty for anyone who curses Allah, the Prophet Mohammad, or his many wives.
Twelve Christians are to stand trial in Iran on Easter Sunday on charges including “crimes against the order”, an activist assisting them with advocacy told Worthy News.
Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani who faces execution for refusing to abandon his faith in Christ and embrace Islam was still alive, “through the power of Jesus Christ and prayers”, an official assisting him told Worthy News.
Another church in Tehran was ordered to cease holding services in Farsi, the Iranian national language, otherwise it could be “bombed”.
Islamic militants with ties to terror group al-Qaida have launched the “ethnic cleansing of minority Christians” in Syria, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee the embattled Syrian city of Homs and other areas, aid workers confirmed Tuesday, March 27.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that the Secretary of State name Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern in its 2012 Annual Report.
At least a dozen devoted Christians from Iran’s third largest city remained in jail Saturday, March 17, as part of an attempt by authorities to discourage Muslims and Christian converts to attend church services, Iranian Christians said.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, recently declared that it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.”
Only a week after Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told a conference of evangelical Protestants that his government respected the rights of Christian minorities, his fellow Palestinian officials told Pastor Naim Khoury that his church could no longer operate as a religious institution under the Palestinian Authority.
Barnabas Aid is sending emergency relief to Christians trapped in Homs after the withdrawal of anti-government forces from the Baba Amr district.
Yet another convert and member of a house church was arrested along with many other Christians in Esfahan, according to the Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News.
Dozens demonstrated at the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Washington demanding that Ethiopian Christians imprisoned for their beliefs be released.
A Kuwaiti parliamentarian will soon draft legislation banning the construction of churches and other non-Islamic places of worship in the tiny emirate.