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Christian convert Hossein Saketi Aramsari has been sentenced to one year in prison for “promoting Christianity”.

Hossein, who is known as Stephen, was first arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents on 23 July 2013 in the Golestan Jungle, according to HRANA.

He was then transferred to the Jajarm Intelligence Office and then the Bojnourd Intelligence Office, and after 15 days in solitary confinement his case was handed over to the Revolutionary Court of Alborz on charges of “propagating Christianity”.

On 6 August he was handed over to the Karaj Intelligence Office and spent until 26 October in solitary confinement in Ward 8 of Karaj’s Rajaei Shahr Prison. He was then transferred to Karaj Central Prison.

In mid-November, he was taken to Branch 6 of the Revolutionary Court of Karaj, where he made his final defence against the charge of “propagating Christianity”. He was eventually sentenced to one year in prison by Branch 1 of the Karaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Asef Hosseini.

The verdict, which was handed down to him verbally after several court hearings, was issued after the court had previously granted him bail but not allowed his family to pay it.

Stephen is currently being held in Ward 7 of the Karaj Central Prison, where Behnam Irani, Ali Moezzi and Mohammad Reza Pourshajari are also being held.

St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in Tehran has been forced to ban Persian-speaking Christians from its services.

Pastor Sergis Benjamin, speaking ahead of Christmas, urged Persian speakers to no longer visit the church. 

But with only a few Assyrian and Armenian families attending the church, the reality is that the future of the church is now in jeopardy. The majority of members are Persian-speakers, and some have been attending services for over 20 years. 

Guards have been posted at the door of the church to ensure Persian speakers don’t enter.

Churches in Iran have long been under pressure from security agencies, especially Iranian Revolutionary Guard intelligence agents, to stop them from holding meetings in Persian.

Since 2009, pressure and restrictions on official churches have increased. In December 2009, the Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran was required to cancel its Persian meetings on Fridays after receiving a notification from the Ministry of Intelligence.

Then in February 2012, St. Peter’s Church and another Persian-speaking church, Emmanuel Church, were banned from holding meetings in Persian on Fridays after receiving a similar notification.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have told churches in Tehran that they can hold their meetings on Sundays instead of Fridays – when most Iranians show up for work and are unable to attend. The members of these churches have also been forced to provide their personal details to the Ministry of Intelligence, in an attempt to further deter members and interested parties from attending.

Five Christians were arrested as they celebrated Christmas together on Christmas Eve at a “house church” in eastern Tehran.

Ahmad Bazyar, Faegheh Nasrollahi, Mastaneh Rastegari, Amir Hossein Nematollahi were arrested at the home of a man only identified as an engineer named Mr Hosseini, who was also arrested.

Armed plainclothes agents insulted and searched the Christians, and seized books, CDs, laptops and satellite-television equipment.  

The agents also searched the home of one of Mr Hosseini’s neighbours, who had witnessed the raid, and insulted and beat him, then threatened his family not to tell anyone about it.

There has been no news of the Christians since their arrest.

Every year at Christmas, the Iranian security forces crack down on Christians with harassment, threats and arrests. 

Christian prisoner Farshid Fathi has published a letter from Evin Prison on the third anniversary of his arrest, saying he is celebrating Christmas in prison with “unexplainable joy”.

Farshid was arrested in December 2010 in Tehran. After months of uncertainty in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, he was eventually brought before a Revolutionary Court in January 2012 and sentenced by Judge Abolqasem Salavati to six years in prison for “acting against national security”, “promoting Christianity”, and “cooperation with foreign Christian organisations”.

He has now spent more than 1,100 days in prison for his faith and Christian activities. 

In his letter, he thanked all those who continue to pray for his release, and prophesied that they should prepare themselves for an “exciting journey” in the year ahead.

Read the full text of Farshid Fathi’s letter below:

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are celebrating Christmas in prison with honour and an unexplainable joy in Christ.

2013 is going to end and we are very thankful to the Lord for everything we were given this year. I had called 2013 “the year of revelation”. Now I am very glad because I am calling 2014 “the year of God’s presence”.

God calls us to walk before Him and be blameless, as He said to Abraham. So far, walking before Him is very sweet and so exciting. It is filled with great endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, sleepless nights, hunger, purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech and the power of God.

So my dear brothers and sisters, if you read this, be ready for a very exciting journey in 2014.

Thank you so much for remembering me in your prayers after 1,100 days.

With blessings in Christ,

Your brother,

Farshid

Christian convert Rasoul Abdollahi has been taken to Ward 350 in Tehran’s Evin Prison to begin his three-year prison sentence for “gathering and colluding and promoting Christianity”. 

Rasoul was one of dozens of Christians arrested by security forces across Iran on Christmas Day 2010.

He was released on bail in March 2011, and now, more than two and a half years later, he returns to prison to begin his three-year sentence.

He joins fellow Christian Farshid Fathi in Ward 350. Farshid is serving a six-year sentence, having been arrested a few weeks before Rasoul.

Many hoped that with the arrival of Hassan Rouhani as president, the pressure on religious minorities and prisoners of conscience would be reduced. But experts and human rights activists have not yet noticed a change in approach.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights on Iran, has said that he has twice written to Rouhani, requesting permission to travel to Iran, but has not yet received an answer.

Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran has sentenced Vruir Avanessian, retired pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, to three and a half years in prison. He was given 20 days to file an appeal.

The Revolutionary Court also barred the retired reverend from holding any meetings or contacting other Christians until a final verdict is issued.

Pastor Vruir served as the leader of Armenian and Persian-language churches for many years, but retired due to ill health following a kidney transplant and diabetes diagnosis.

He was arrested last Christmas in Tehran, together with a number of converts to Christianity.

The pressure on Christians in Iran is often most severe at Christmas time. In 2010, more than a dozen Christians were arrested over Christmas, including Farshid Fathi and Rasoul Abdollahi, who remain in Ward 350 of Evin Prison.

During the Christmas period of 2011, a raid on the Ahvaz Assemblies of God Church resulted in the arrest of all attendees, including children. Most church members were released after a few hours’ interrogation and after being ordered to attend no more church services, but the pastor, Farhad Sabokrooh, his wife Shahnaz Jizan, and church members Davoud Alijani and Nasser Zamen-Dezfuli were detained and eventually sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “converting to Christianity, inviting Muslims to convert, and propaganda against the regime by promoting evangelical Christianity”.

All four were eventually sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “inviting Muslims to change religion” and “propaganda against the regime through the propagation of evangelical Christianity”.

Last week, Pastor Farhad and church member Nasser were released after spending 214 days in prison.

Christmas 2012 also saw the arrest of about 50 Christians in Tehran, including Pastor Vruir, who was charged with “action against national security” and “propaganda against the holy regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Farhad Sabokrooh, pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Ahvaz, and church member Nasser Zamen-Dezfuli have been released from Ahvaz’s Sepidar Prison after 214 days.

Two years ago, security forces had arrested all those present at a church Christmas celebration. Most of those detained were released after interrogation and threats to no longer participate in church ceremonies. But the pastor and his wife, Shahnaz Jayzan, along with two church members, Nasser Zamen-Dezfuli and Davoud Alijani, were detained and charged with “tendency to Christianity, inviting Muslims to convert”, as well as “propaganda activities against the system by promoting evangelical Christianity”.

Each of the four Christians were sentenced to one year in prison by an Ahvaz Revolutionary Court and taken to serve their sentences in Sepidar Prison in May.

Now after serving more than half their sentences, including time in detention before sentencing, Farhad and Nasser have been released, with the expectation that Shahnaz and Davoud will also be released in the coming days.

The Ahvaz Assemblies of God Church has been closed since the day of the arrests.

Two prisoners of conscience being held in Shiraz’s Adel Abad prison have been hospitalised.

Vahid Hakani, a Christian convert, has suffered gastrointestinal bleeding; Kasra Nouri, a Gonabadi dervish activist, has nerve damage in his back.

Vahid is serving a sentence of three years and eight months for his Christian beliefs, issued by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court. His health has been deteriorating for some months and prison doctors suggested he needed surgery as far back as February. However, the judge initially ruled that he couldn’t leave the prison until the final verdict in his case.

Eventually, it was agreed that he could be taken to hospital and undergo the necessary surgery. However, he is likely to need to serve extra time in prison to make up for the time he has spent in hospital.

Vahid is serving his sentence alongside three other converts: Mojtaba Hosseini, Homayoun Shekoohi and Mohammad Reza Partovi.

Meanwhile, Kasra Nouri has been taken to hospital for a scan, according to the dervish news agency Majzooban Noor, where he has been diagnosed with a slipped disc and sciatica.

His family have complained that part of the cause of his back problems and subsequent respiratory problems is overcrowding in the prison.

Kasra has been in prison for nearly two years now, and was sentenced in April to four years and four months’ detention.

Many hoped that with the arrival of the “moderate” Hassan Rouhani as president, the pressure on religious minorities and prisoners of conscience would be reduced. But experts and human rights activists have not yet seen a change of approach. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, has said that he has twice written to Rouhani to request permission to travel to Iran, but has not yet received an answer.

But in August Mohammad-Javad Larijani, secretary of the High Council for Human Rights inIran, said Shaheed’s request was “not considered serious” and criticised him for alleged propaganda against the regime.

A retired American pastor arrested on Monday for protesting outside Evin Prison has been released from custody and is set to be deported.

Eddie Romero was protesting against the detention of several Iranians Christians and a lawyer in the prison. His protest was live-streamed until he was arrested.

Pastor Romero’s daughter, Sarah, reported yesterday that he had called his wife from the Swiss embassy in Tehran and said he would return to the United States by today.

According to the report, Eddie Romero said he preferred to stay in Iran to try to draw attention to the number of Christians detained there.

She added: “You want your loved one to be well and safe and never do anything risky, but knowing my dad, we realise that he is cut out for this kind of a thing. And we support him 100 per cent.”

Sarah Yetter revealed more about the motives behind her father’s mission to Iran at a news conference published on YouTube yesterday. 

A spokesperson for the US State Department, in a brief statement, said: “We are aware of the reports that a US citizen has been detained in Iran and, due to privacy consideration, have no further comments or details this time.”

Pastor Romero recently retired from leading a church in California and now lectures in philosophy. He is also the founder of Exodus8one, a group set up to support the rights of Christians and other religious minorities around the world.

After his arrest, a pre-recorded video of Pastor Romero was released on YouTube, calling for the release of the Christian prisoners Farshid Fathi, Saeed Abedini, Mostafa Bordbar and Alireza Seyyedian, as well as the human rights lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, who had defended Christians including Yousef Nadarkhani.

In the video, the pastor said he would be proud to be imprisoned alongside such people.

Another video has been released on the Internet, which is said to show audio and video related to Mr Romero’s protest and the officers’ conversation with him. The video is not of good quality and seems to have been recorded and sent with a tool that Mr Romero had with him.

“These can be seen on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter,” he told officers in English in the video. A few minutes later, officers apparently noticed Mr Romero’s mobile device and the connection was cut off.

The Exodus8one website says the video was broadcast live on the Internet.

Shahrokh Afshar, a pastor of an Iranian church near Los Angeles, told a news conference that officers appeared to be confused about the video recording equipment Eddie Romero had, but that their attitude was respectful.

In 2008, Eddie Romero was arrested in China when calling for the release of five Christians during the Beijing Olympics. That time also he was detained for 24 hours and then deported.