Iranian officials are trying to convince an imprisoned pastor to return to Islam while he awaits word from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on whether he should be executed for converting to Christianity.
A believer of Muslim Background, Fariborz Arazm, has gone missing since his arrest last week by plain clothes security officers.
Christians in Syria need prayer during that country’s current civil turmoil; at least 2,700 people have been killed and thousands more arrested in an effort to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani learns early next week whether he will be executed for refusing to recant his faith in Jesus Christ and return to Islam, as the court needs more time to consult with the country’s leadership, trial observers told Worthy News Thursday, October 6.
Four people, three Christians and one of Turkish origin, were kidnapped on Sept. 21 according to Middle East Concern. They were returning from a hunting trip when their vehicle was stopped by armed men. The vehicle was found a short time later after it had been burned, with the bodies of the dogs inside.
Militants with suspected ties to Iranian security forces have threatened to kill nearly a dozen evangelical Christians who fled Iran unless they “repent” and return to Islam, well-informed sources told Worthy News early Sunday, October 2.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani faced tense hours early Saturday, October 1, after a government official said he should be executed for being a traitorous “Zionist” and committing “security crimes.”
Security forces on Wednesday, September 28, still searched for three Iraqi Christians, a week after they were reportedly kidnapped by suspected militants in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk.
A young pastor of Iran’s largest house church movement has told an Iranian court he will not “recant” his faith in Christ despite facing execution as early as Thursday, September 29, for abandoning Islam, church sources said.
An Iranian court has asked the pastor of one of Iran’s largest house church movements to abandon his faith in Christ and return to Islam if he wants to avoid execution, a church official told Worthy News Sunday, September 25.
Two Azeri converts from Islam were both released temporarily on $40,000 bail after appearing before two separate court hearings.
Iran on Tuesday, September 6, ordered five Iranian Christians, including a heavily pregnant woman, to report to prison on charges linked to their Christian activities, a mission group working in the region said.
Arrested on charges of blasphemy against Islam, Pastor Matthias Haghnejad is now free on bail, according to ASSIST News Service.
According to an unconfirmed report from the Farsi News Network, after almost one year in prison, Pastor Vahik Abrahamian was released Aug. 29 and has rejoined his family.
The whereabouts of an evangelical pastor in Iran remained unknown Saturday, August 27, some 10 days after he was detained by Iranian security forces as part of a reported government crackdown on Christian converts, Worthy News established.
Kirkuk police recently report that they deactivated an explosive device left near the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the Almass district of Kirkuk.
Iranian authorities seized thousands of Bibles in north-west Iran and destroyed a church in the Islamic country’s south-east as part of a wider crackdown on Christianity, Iranian Christians said in messages monitored by Worthy News.
An evangelical pastor who faces execution in Iran for refusing to abandon his Christian faith has urged fellow believers to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and the “Word of God” despite persecution, according to a letter obtained by Worthy News.
Although security forces found and disabled two cars packed with explosives in northern Iraq Tuesday, a third exploded outside a Christian church, wounding 23 people.
Two Indian Christians of a thriving Pentecostal house church in Saudi Arabia were back in their home country Sunday, July 24, after they were unexpectedly released by Saudi officials from an overcrowded prison, a church official confirmed to Worthy News.