(Article18) — The UK’s new guidelines for asylum cases involving Iranian Christian converts acknowledge there is a “real risk” of persecution for “ordinary” Christians in Iran, and not just leaders or those with a “particularly evangelical zeal.” The guidelines have been updated to reflect the findings of a November court hearing for an Iranian referred […]
(Article18) — A Christian convert serving two years in internal exile in a remote southeastern Iranian city has had his exile extended for a further 11 months due to alleged unauthorized leave of absence. Ebrahim Firouzi, who is 34, began his exile on Nov. 12, just two weeks after returning home from six years in […]
(Article18) — Nine Christian converts have lost their appeals against five-year prison sentences, though none of the men, nor their lawyers, were permitted to attend the Feb. 25 hearing. A lawyer for one of the men told Article18 that Iran is attempting to expedite its judicial processes due to a backlog of cases related to […]
(Article18) — Christian convert Ismaeil Maghrebinejad has been sentenced to an additional two years in prison. The 65-year-old was sentenced in January to three years in prison for “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs.” Now, following a court hearing on Feb. 27, he has been sentenced to an additional two years in prison for “membership of a […]
(Middle East Concern) — Iranian Christians are pleased that Christian convert Mary (Fatemeh) Mohammadi has been released conditionally from Qarchak women’s prison in Varamin. Mary, 21, was arrested on Jan. 12 near Azadi Square in Tehran while protests were underway following the downing Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of […]
(Church in Chains) — Christian rights activist Fatemeh (Mary) Mohammadi has been badly beaten and strip searched and is being detained in the notorious Qarchak women’s prison. A former Muslim, she has chosen to be known as Mary since her conversion. Mary, 21, was arrested on Jan. 12 near Azadi Square in Tehran during protests […]
(Article18) — US President Donald Trump highlighted Iran’s detention of 21-year-old Christian convert Fatemeh (Mary) Mohammadi as part of a high-profile annual prayer breakfast address on Thursday, as reports claimed she is being held in a prison on the outskirts of Tehran. “Weeks ago, a 21-year-old woman, who goes by the name of Mary, […]
(Article18) — Three Christian women survivors of persecution in Iran have called upon the international community to make more noise on behalf of persecuted Christians in Iran. “My fear is that we’re too quiet,” said Dabrina Bet-Tamraz, whose brother, Ramiel, is currently in prison in Tehran because of his Christian evangelism, and whose father, Victor, […]
(Article18) — Three Iranian Christian converts have been granted early release from prison, reports Middle East Concern. Asghar Salehi was released from Eqlid Prison yesterday after serving two months of his six-month sentence. Mohammad Reza Rezaei and a third convert known only as “A.T.” are due to be released on Saturday. Article18’s Advocacy Director, Mansour […]
(Article18) — The grave of the only Iranian Christian to have been executed on official charges of apostasy has been demolished. The body of Hussein Soodmand was buried on the edge of the Beheshte-Reza cemetery in Mashhad after his execution nearly 30 years ago, in December 1990. In all the years since, the only sign […]