Ahmad Sarparast, Morteza Mashoodkari, and Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh are the second trio of converts to have been imprisoned as a result of convictions under the amended Article 500 of the penal code.
Christian convert Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh was arrested alongside three Christians visiting from Azerbaijan – Eldar Gurbanov, Yusif Farhadov and Bahram Nasibov – in June 2016 at a private gathering near Tehran.
Iranian-Armenian Christian Joseph Shahbazian and Christian converts Mina Khajavi and Malihe Nazari have been sentenced to a combined total of 22 years in prison solely for practising their Christian faith.
Iranian Christian converts Homayoun Zhaveh and his wife Sara Ahmadi were sentenced to two and 11 years in prison, respectively, in November 2020 for membership and leadership of a house-church.
Iranian-Armenian Christian Anooshavan Avedian faces 10 years in prison under the amended Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code for what a notorious judge called “propaganda contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam”.
These four Christian converts were given prison sentences of between two and five years for “acting against national security” by belonging to a house-church and “spreading Zionist Christianity”.
This case study was used as part of a UK government-funded report into the persecution of Christians worldwide. The case […]
Nine Christian converts whose five-year sentences for “acting against national security” were challenged by Iran’s Supreme Court.
Sevada Aghasar, an Iranian-Armenian Christian, and Ebrahim Firouzi, a Christian convert, were arrested on 21 August 2013, just a week before Ebrahim was due to be summoned to serve a one-year jail sentence.
This case study was used as part of a UK government-funded report into the persecution of Christians worldwide. The case involves four Christians […]