Report on the condition of Christians and Churches in Iran

 

Persecution of Iranian Churches (Persecution of converted Muslims in Iran)

 

According to a report by FCNN on the issue of human rights in Iran, during the last several years and after the election of the government of Islamic Republic president, Mahmood Ahmadi- Nejad, violations of human rights in Iran have increased on an alarming basis and, in particular, the oppression of the religious minorities continue to be one of the clear examples of gross violations of human rights in Iran.

 

Christians in Iran, from the beginning of the Islamic Republics revolution in 1979, have steadily been under increasing pressure from the government intelligence operations, and the security apparatuses of the Islamic Republic, which has caused the martyrdom of many Christian citizens, some who are listed below:

 

The Martyrs of the Iranian Churches

 

- Reverend Arastoo Sayaah killed in Shiraz in the winter of 1979

 

- Bishop Bahram Dehghani killed in Isfahan in spring of 1980

 

- Reverend Seyed Hossein Soodmand, charged with betrayal to Islam, and executed in the city of Mashhad prison in 1990

 

- Reverend Mehdi Dibaj in Karaj in spring of 1994

 

- Bishop Haik Hovesepian Mehr in Tehran in the fall of 1993

 

- Reverend Tatevos Mikaelian in Tehran in winter of 1993

 

- Reverend Ravanbakhsh in Sari in fall of 1996

 

- Ghorban Toorani in fall of 2005 in the city of Gonbad.

 

Arrests and detentions of Christian believers and the evangelists of Iranian Churches in recent years

 

Christians in Iran are viewed as two distinct groups: a great number are Muslim-born Iranians who have converted to Christianity and the other groups are the ethnic and nominally Christian minorities such as Armenians and Assyrians who live in Iran.

 

Even though in recent years no Muslim-born Iranian Christian has been executed for his conversion to Christianity, the existence of such laws have posed and acted as threats against Christian citizens and in particular against Christian evangelists.

 

Below is a summary of several such incidents of arrests and detentions in recent years:

 

1- One of the leaders of the church in the city of Gorgan was arrested and detained in prison on the charge of believing in the Christian faith. He was repeatedly interrogated during his detention.

 

2- Dr. Mehrdad along with his wife and 8 years old son ,who were members of the church in Hamadan, were arrested and imprisoned by the Ministry of Information officers

 

3- In the spring of 2004, four members of the church in Chaloos were arrested by the Ministry of Information officers and were sentenced to be executed by the criminal court of the city of Tonkabon, only to have their convictions overturned and them being freed after extreme pressure was exerted by human rights organizations from all around the world.

 

4- The arrests of more than 80 leaders of the Iranian churches in the spring of 2004 in the city of Karaj.

 

5- The conviction of Reverend Hamid Pourmand who was a high ranking retired military officer.

 

6- One Christian family in Chaloos including their 13 and 18 years old Children were arrested and imprisoned at the detention center of the Ministry of Information in the city of Tonkabon.

 

7- Ms. Fereshteh Dibaj, daughter of the late Rev. Mehdi Dibaj, in spring of 2006, in their house church, along with her husband, Mr. Montazemi, were detained and interrogated by the Ministry of Information officers for more than 2 weeks. Currently they are banned from travel to outside Iran.

 

8- Mr. G (name protected) from a house church in western Iran was repeatedly threatened by the officers of the Ministry of Information and finally arrested in 2006.

 

9- The wife of one of the converted Christians in the city of Shahin Shahr was arrested and transferred to a local jail where she was interrogated and physically tortured to the point of being hospitalized from injuries sustained from such tortures.

 

10- Mrs. Shirin Sadegh Khanjani, Mr. Behrooz Sadegh Khanjani, and Hamid Reza Tolooi-Nia along with several members of the house-church in Tehran were arrested by the Ministry of Information officers around the fall of 2006.

 

11- Mr. Shahin Taghi-Zadeh, Yousof Noor-Khani, Mathias Hagh-Nejad, Parviz Khalaj-Zamani, Mohammad Beliad, Payman Sala-Ravand, and Sohrab Sayadi who are members of the house-church in Rasht were arrested by the ministry of Information officers in the fall of 2006.

 

12- The arrest of 3 leaders of the Assemblies of God central church in Tehran in the fall of 2007 caused the closure of the church and the worship services.

 

13- The arrest and detention of a Christian Iranian, Amin Shayegan, in the spring of 2007 during an unfortunate automobile accident with government security officers and the subsequent search and seizure of several Jesus films, Bibles, and his confession of faith resulted in 74 lashes of whips. (photos in FCNN)

 

14- In the summer of 2005 a Christian couple, known as N and M, along with several other believers from a house-church in the city of Gohar-dasht were arrested and detained by the authorities. They were subjected to torture by repeated flogging and the wife was sexually assaulted by the security officers. (Photos in FCNN)

 

15- In the fall of 2006, Mr. Behnam and Bahman Irani, members of a local house-church in the city of Karaj, were arrested and detained by security officers.

 

It is necessary to explain that the Ministry of Information officers often accuse Christian evangelists of being spies of American and British Imperialism and, through various threats, demand the closure of the house-churches and the termination of all religious activities, otherwise they must report to these officers on weekly basis and inform as to how many new converts have joined their churches. The security officers sometimes order these evangelists to redirect their evangelistic activities towards the Iranian mystics, Bahais, and the followers of other religions.

 

Threats, Pressure, bans, and limitations imposed on Churches

 

1- Identification of Believers: Filming and photographing of believers entering and exiting church buildings (done by one of the Ministry of Information officers in one of the house-churches) and in some cases the arrest of the house-church leaders and demanding that they provide a list of all members attending on weekly basis.

 

2- Transporting of the Bible: possession and the transportation of more than one Bible is a crime and persons caught are charged with proselytization.

 

3- Import ban on all Bibles to Iran: the importation of any Bible or the publishing of Christian literature is banned and those who have had a role in the publishing of such books are arrested and charged. (the arrest of Several Christian publishes and the closure of their printing facilities)

 

4- Phone threats: Active members of the Churches are threatened by phone (In one case, the sound of bullets firing could be heard in the background of the phone conversation)

 

5- Prevention of contact with various social groups: The Ministry of Information prevents pastors of churches from contacting high school and university students and often the condition of their freedom from arrest is their agreement not to ever contact any students.

 

6- Sudden attack on the church buildings and the mass arrest of believers and the immediate closure of all Bible classes.

 

7- Refusal to allow new Muslim visitors to participate in church meetings.

 

8- Confiscation of church equipment and property such as Christian books, hymn books, organ, guitars, and audio visual equipment necessary for worship services.

 

9- Preventing the new believers from getting baptized: In the past years, many believers who have been prevented from conducting and participating in Christian traditions and activities such as water baptism have been forced to leave Iran and fulfill their Christian duties by being baptized in countries like Turkey and Armenia. Baptism of Muslim-born Iranians is strictly forbidden.

 

10- Preventing the un-baptized believers from entering church buildings: The Ministry of Information uses arrest and detention to force the leaders of the churches to prevent any un-baptized believer to enter church buildings. Discipling of these believers is considered a crime.

 

11- Banning all Christmas celebrations on regular basis in all house-churches and main church buildings. In the previous years and around Christmas season, church buildings were attacked and the leaders in Rasht, Tehran, and Karaj were prevented from celebrating Christmas and the New Year. In 2007, the security officers belonging to the Ministry of Information prevented a great number of Christian, who in cooperation with the Assyrian association had rented a private hall, the William Daniel Hall belonging to the Assyrian community, from celebrating the Christmas festivities by disconnecting the electricity from the building. Also a great number of believers from the city of Rasht that had come to Tehran to participate in the celebrations were prevented from the leaving the city and were given one hour to meet with the church leaders in order to meet at a house-church for theses celebrations.

 

12- Banning all Bible studies and teaching in churches, which is one of the main ministries of the churches in Iran (the Assemblies of God Central Church in Tehran- Spring of 2007)

 

"It is important to mention that Christian books and Bible studies are published in Iran on a very limited basis, but can not be found in any cities and towns in Iran except in Tehran. Thus believers from all over the country come to Tehran for the purchase of these books. Bookstores in Iran are not permitted to sell Christian books and if they are caught selling banned Christian literatures, their shops are closed. Only books that are authorized by the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Outreach inspectors can be sold in bookstores.

 

Churches that use designated church buildings are very few and only in large cities like Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz Christians (mainly Armenians and Assyrians) are allowed to own places of worship. Even these ethnic groups face many restrictions on special events like Christmas and their pastors or priests are prevented from evangelizing or distributing Bibles and are under constant control of the Ministry of Information.

 

This report is a limited and summarized account of some of the limitations and pressures that the official security apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran is exerting on the Christian community of Iran."