The pastor of Iran’s largest Persian speaking Pentecostal church has been “conditionally released” from prison but his congregation in the capital Tehran remains closed, Iranian Christians told Worthy News.
While the world’s attention was focused on Iran’s presidential election, four converts to Christianity were found guilty by an Iranian court of no longer being Muslims.
Iranian Pastor Behnam Irani, who may face the death penalty for “apostasy”, is facing serious health problems after two years imprisonment, a close friend has told Worthy News.
Iranian agents closed Iran’s largest Persian-language Pentecostal church Monday, one week after arresting its pastor during worship services, according to Fox News.
A pastor of the Central Assemblies of God (AoG) Church in Tehran was detained Tuesday, May 21, as part of Iran’s wider crackdown on evangelical believers, Christian rights activists confirmed. The arrest of Reverend Robert Asserian came as his church prepared for possible closure by the end of June due to pressure from the feared Iranian Intelligence Ministry, said advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
A Christian prisoner suffering internal bleeding has been denied proper medical attention in Iran, according to Barnabas Aid.
Of the 15 worst violators of religious freedom in the world, 10 are Islamic states.
A new report by the International Campaign for Human Rights shows that many Christian customs in Iran are criminalized by the authorities, according to Barnabas Aid.
An American pastor sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison for planting house churches in the Islamic Republic a decade ago recently wrote that prison officials have told him to either deny Christ, or remain incarcerated indefinitely, according to the Christian News Network.
Five Christian converts from Islam who were arrested in Iran last year for evangelistic activities had to post large bail amounts to be released from prison.
Two Christian converts are already over 50 days in Tehran’s feared Evin prison as part of a crackdown on spreading Christianity in heavily Islamic Iran and it remains unclear when they will be released, Worthy News learned.
Supporters of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his faith have appealed to the UN for help.
Eight of the top 10 persecutors of Christians worldwide are Islamic states, according to the Open Doors’ 2013 World Watch List.
An American pastor already imprisoned in Iran for evangelizing was sentenced Sunday to eight years in prison for attempting to entice Iran’s youth away from Islam through his network of underground house churches.
The wife of a jailed Iranian-American pastor has denied Iran’s claims that her husband will be released on bail as an attempt to “silence the international media.”
Iran has launched the “systematic persecution and prosecution” of “Protestants and Christian converts” with a Muslim background, closing churches, detaining believers and threatening some with execution, a new report claims.
Iran on Monday, January 7, released Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was jailed on Christmas Day to serve the remainder of a sentence for evangelism among Muslims, his evangelical house church movement confirmed.
In Iran, an Iranian-born American pastor with dual citizenship remains behind bars in Evin prison for the holidays.
Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was recently acquitted of apostasy, has been returned to prison on an earlier charge, rights activists told Worthy News.
Iranian Church leaders have urged prayers for Christians in Iran amid concerns authorities will raid more house churches and detain believers over the Christmas and Western New Year period.