by Steve Dew-Jones | 18 Jan 2023 | News
The countries in red are those ranked “extreme” in their persecution of Christians; for those in orange, persecution is described as “very high”. (Photo: Open Doors International) Iran has risen back to eighth place on an annual list of the...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 17 Jan 2023 | News
Rev Hossein Soodmand’s hanging for “apostasy” in 1990 remains the only such example among the Iranian Christian community, though others have been sentenced to death for the “crime” or killed outside of court. Iran refrained from...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 11 Jan 2023 | News
Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh, Morteza Mashoodkari and Ahmad Sarparast (left to right) enjoying some time at home. Three “Church of Iran” members serving prison sentences for “spreading deviant beliefs contrary to Islam” were given short breaks from prison over the Christmas...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 10 Jan 2023 | News
Pope Francis delivers his annual New Year’s address. (Photo: Twitter @VaticanNews) Pope Francis has broken his silence on the protests in Iran, specifically referring to the “recent demonstrations demanding greater respect for the dignity of women” as part of...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 6 Jan 2023 | News
An Iranian-Assyrian woman has been released on bail after more than a month in detention in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison as a result of her support for the popular protests. Bianka Zaia, 38, was arrested on the evening of 26 November by plainclothes officers who...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 6 Jan 2023 | News
A “Church of Iran” pastor who had been on leave from prison since last summer was rearrested at a Christmas gathering in Bandar Anzali, north Iran, on 26 December. Two church members were also arrested that evening and, a week later, so was the pastor’s wife....
by Steve Dew-Jones | 5 Jan 2023 | News
Mehdi Bahman with an artwork he presented to representatives of different minority faiths. (Photo: Twitter @FSeifikaran) An Iranian artist and author who once donated an illustrated copy of the Psalms to families of the victims of 9/11 has reportedly been sentenced to...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 4 Jan 2023 | News
Vank Church in Isfahan. The annual Christmas and New Year celebrations at the most famous Armenian church in Iran were cancelled this year, in what has been viewed by many as a signal of solidarity with protesters. Christmas decorations and a fireworks display on New...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 5 Dec 2022 | News
A Christian convert recently released after nearly five years’ imprisonment for “acting against national security” is now mourning the death of his mother. Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, 61, was “pardoned” in October, having been in Tehran’s Evin Prison since January 2018....
by Steve Dew-Jones | 2 Dec 2022 | News
The Iranian regime continues to use the voices of its recognised Christian minority as part of its propaganda drive against the ongoing protests in the country. A copy of one of the four statements from Assyrian and Armenian churches in Tehran over the past two weeks....
