by Steve Dew-Jones | 6 Feb 2023 | News
The 19th-century cathedral in Iskenderun is among the buildings to have collapsed. Iranian Christian refugees have been among those affected by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Iranian Christians reported to Article18 that their church buildings...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 4 Feb 2023 | Notes from Prison
This is the first in a series of 12 articles by Mojtaba Hosseini, an Iranian convert to Christianity who spent more than three years in prison in the southern city of Shiraz for being part of a house-church. In this first Note from Prison, Mojtaba talks about his...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 3 Feb 2023 | News
The wife of a pastor serving a six-year prison sentence for “propagating Christianity” now faces her own charges of “propaganda against the state” and “disturbing public opinion”. Anahita Khademi, who is married to Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, was informed of...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 31 Jan 2023 | News
The hundreds of Iranian Christian refugees stuck in countries like Turkey have been given fresh hope with the launch of a new sponsorship scheme in the US. Under the scheme, dubbed the “Welcome Corps” by the US State Department, US citizens or permanent residents will...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 30 Jan 2023 | News
Dabrina Bet-Tamraz (second from right) speaking at the European Parliament launch of the Open Doors World Watch List last week. The daughter of Iranian-Assyrian church leaders, who were forced to flee Iran after being sentenced to a combined 15 years in prison, has...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 27 Jan 2023 | News
These are just some of the faces of the Iranian Christians who have been detained in Turkey in recent weeks. Article18 has received firsthand testimonies from five Iranian Christian refugee families – 17 individuals in total – who have been arrested in...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 23 Jan 2023 | News
The son of a murdered Iranian pastor has produced a short film in protest against state executions in Iran. Joseph Hovsepian, whose father Haik was murdered in January 1994, posted the film, ‘We Will Win’, on his Instagram page following the first public executions of...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 23 Jan 2023 | News
Malihe Nazari (left) and Sara Ahmadi. Two Iranian Christian converts are among 30 women prisoners of conscience to have signed a joint statement denouncing state executions in Iran, as protesters continue to be sentenced to death. Sara Ahmadi and Malihe Nazari, who...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 20 Jan 2023 | Features
“Sometimes, even though I’ll be sitting next to my family, it will be as though I’m not there. I’ll stare at a fixed point in the distance for some time. My wife also exhibits the same kind of behaviour.” These are the words of Ali Kazemian, more...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 20 Jan 2023 | Witness Statements
For a summary of Ali and Zahra’s story, you can read our feature article here. Background Ali 1. My name is Ali Kazemian, and I was born in Shiraz, in 1969, to a Muslim family. For a while, I followed the rules and ceremonies of Islam as much as I could, but I...
