Christian converts and evangelists in Iran attend ‘persecution preparedness’ meetings to share practical and psychological ways of coping with the threat of government raids on underground churches and the prospect of being jailed in notoriously appalling prisons on the grounds of ‘national security,’ Open Doors UK reports.
Four devoted Christian men mistreated while in detention in Iran have been temporarily released due to the coronavirus pandemic, activists confirmed Thursday.
While Christian convert Majidreza Souzanchi was released from Iran’s Greater Tehran Penitentiary on April 8, four other Christians were arrested and detained by Iranian intelligence officials on April 19, International Christian Persecution reports. Iran currently ranks 8 on the Open Doors Watch List of countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith.
A former Muslim who became Christian in Saudi Arabia faced a court and possible jail Thursday for helping his sister, a fellow believer, to escape the Islamic nation, Worthy News learned.
MajidReza Souzanchi Kushani, a Christian who was charged and imprisoned in Iran for promoting house churches, was given early release from jail because he caught COVID-19, Christian Response reported Friday. Iran ranks no. 8 on the US World Watch List 2021 of countries that persecute Christians.
An archbishop in war-torn Syria has thanked Hungary for enabling hundreds of Christians to return to their homes, Hungary’s government said.
At least hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christians face growing anti-Christian hostilities in war-ravaged Syria and neighboring Lebanon, aid workers said Friday.
Iranian Christians requested prayers Wednesday for Homayoun Zhaveh, 62, and his wife Sara Ahmadi, 42, as they were due to be summoned to prison for house church activities, Worthy News learned.
A former Muslim who converted to Christianity in Saudi Arabia faces two court cases and threats of violence against him and his family, trial observers say.
Iranian Christian Ebrahim Firouzi who spent years in prison after abandoning Islam and was recently jailed, could be released this weekend, Christians told Worthy News.
A Christian online writer who already received lashes for expressing her faith in Christ and criticizing Iran’s human rights abuses has been detained again, supporters said Thursday.
The U.S. State Department has condemned Iran’s reported flogging of a former Muslim-turned-Christian for drinking Communion wine.
More details emerged about a young Christian missionary killed in Syria after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence dedicated Wednesday‘s vice-presidential debate to her.
Three Iranian Christian converts have fled Iran following the rejection of their appeals, rights activists confirmed. “Kvian Fallah-Mohammadi, Hadi Asgari, and Amin Afshar-Naderi were facing a combined 35 years in prison because of their faith,” said advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC).
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.
Iraqi Christians want prayers for Christian and Kurdish families suffering from Turkish bombardments and incursions in Northern Iraq, aid workers say.
An international humanitarian aid organization has said Christians living in the formerly ISIS-controlled Nineveh Plains of Iraq are now in danger of extinction, the Christian Post reports. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) published a report this week in which it states that political and sectarian tensions are driving Christians out of the area.