by Steve Dew-Jones | 29 Nov 2019 | Analysis
Members of Armenian and Assyrian families are hailed as war heroes by the Iranian regime for serving alongside their compatriots in the eight-year war with Iraq, but, as non-Muslims, they are also banned from employment in the army. By Fred Petrossian The killing of...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 28 Nov 2019 | News
Ashoor Kalta (Facebook) A childhood friend of the Assyrian Christian killed during the protests in Iran has told Article18 he was “one of the kindest men I ever met”. Ashoor Kalta, 37, was killed as he passed by the protests in his car in his home city of Fardis, near...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 25 Nov 2019 | News
Christian converts seeking asylum in Germany are half as likely to succeed in their applications today as they were two years ago, a survey has found. The survey by Christian charity Open Doors Germany reviewed the experiences of over 6,500 converts – 70% of...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 21 Nov 2019 | News
An Assyrian Christian has been named among the scores killed so far in nearly a week of protests in Iran over a sharp rise in fuel prices. Ashoor Kalta (Human Rights in Iran) Ashoor Kalta, 37, was killed on Sunday during protests in Fardis, near Karaj, according to...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 19 Nov 2019 | News
Amirsalar Davoudi (Center for Human Rights in Iran) A human rights lawyer who helped an imprisoned Christian convert with his failed bid for a retrial is now seeking a retrial of his own. Amirsalar Davoudi was sentenced in June to 30 years in prison for “collaborating...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 15 Nov 2019 | News
The Iranian delegation to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, led by Mohammad-Javad Larijani (centre). UN member states have urged Iran to provide freedom of religion or belief for all citizens, including members of both recognised and unrecognised...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 13 Nov 2019 | News
Left to right: Victor Bet-Tamraz, his wife Shamiram, Kavian Fallah-Mohammadi, Amin Afshar-Naderi, and Hadi Asgari. Yet another scheduled hearing in the drawn-out cases of five Christians facing between five and 15 years in prison was postponed today. Assyrian pastor...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 12 Nov 2019 | News
Siavash Hayati (Center for Human Rights in Iran) An Iranian follower of the Yarsan faith has been prevented from completing his university dissertation because he refused to deny his religious beliefs. Siavash Hayati told the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 11 Nov 2019 | News
Two weeks after returning home from six years in prison, Christian convert Ebrahim Firouzi is on his way to the remote city of Sarbaz, 1,000 miles from his home, to begin two years of internal exile. Ebrahim, who will be 33 next month, left his home in Robat Karim,...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 7 Nov 2019 | News
The wife of an Iranian pastor still has nightmares about the months they spent in prison, the pastor says. Farhad Sabokrooh and his wife Shahnaz spent nearly a year in prison following their arrests at Christmas 2011. Two years later they fled Iran after being...
