by Steve Dew-Jones | 29 Jan 2019 | News
An Iranian Christian convert sentenced last year to five years in prison for “membership of an evangelical group and conducting evangelism” has had his sentence reduced to two years. Majidreza Souzanchi, 35, has been in Evin Prison since his arrest on 17 November...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 28 Jan 2019 | News
An Iranian who converted to Christianity nearly 40 years ago was arrested in Shiraz on Friday morning by plainclothes officers claiming to be from the Ministry of Intelligence. Esmaeil Maghrebinezhad, 64, has been regularly harassed by Iran’s security forces since his...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 28 Jan 2019 | News
A 26-year-old convert to Christianity was arrested following a violent raid on his home in Isfahan last week, Article18 can confirm. Witnesses told Article18 that Sina Moloudian was dragged away from his home with bruises around his eyes following the raid, which took...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 24 Jan 2019 | News
Amnesty International has called 2018 Iran’s “year of shame” for its “chilling” crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The charity’s new report, which focuses on the more than 7,000 people arrested for partaking in...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 22 Jan 2019 | News
The spiritual leader of Iran’s Sunni minority says the country’s religious minorities continue to suffer discrimination, despite the pledges of the leaders of the revolution to ensure equal treatment for all. Molavi Abdol-Hamid (Radio Farda) Molavi Abdol-Hamid, 72,...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 20 Jan 2019 | News
Christian convert Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh is now one year into his ten-year jail sentence for “acting against national security through the establishment of ‘house churches’”. Nasser, who is 57 years old, was first arrested in June 2016 alongside three Azerbaijanis at...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 18 Jan 2019 | Features
Iranian-Armenian church leader Haik Hovsepian disappeared on 19 January 1994. His family were notified of his death 11 days later, on 30 January. He was found with multiple stab wounds to his chest. Haik’s forced disappearance came just three days after the release...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 18 Jan 2019 | News
Two converts were asked to renounce their faith during their appeal hearing on 15 January in Tehran. Saheb Fadaie and Fatemeh Bakhtari When Saheb Fadaie and Fatemeh Bakhtari refused, the presiding judges, Hassan Babaee and Ahmad Zargar, told them to expect their...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 17 Jan 2019 | Reports
This report is the result of collaboration between Article18, Middle East Concern, CSW, and Open Doors International. Executive Summary During 2018, the Iranian Christian community, along with other religious minorities, continued to suffer multiple violations of...
by Steve Dew-Jones | 17 Jan 2019 | Reports
Iran’s mistreatment of religious minorities, including the imprisonment of 37 converts to Christianity, is highlighted in the Iran chapter of Human Rights Watch’s latest annual World Report. “As of September 30, Iran has sentenced 37 Christians who...
