Christians in Iran face severe penalties, including imprisonment.
On August 13, house-church members in Tehran, Iran, were surprised to receive a summons from Iranian authorities.
Human rights groups claim that Homayoun Zhaveh and his wife, Sara Ahmadi, were brutally treated when held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for being political dissidents.
Since Homayoun has severe Parkinson’s illness, “friends are worried about their well-being,” according to a statement released by Christian Solidarity International (CSI).
Both Zhaveh (age 63) and Ahmadi (age 44) had lately been the subject of prayer requests from CSI and other advocacy and assistance groups. According to the Middle East Concern (MEC), both were first detained in June 2019 on accusations of belonging to a “illegal group,” with Zhaveh being kept in Evin Prison for a month and Ahmadi being held there for 67 days, with half of that time spent in solitary confinement.
According to MEC, Ahmadi was given an 11-year jail term in November 2020 for her claimed participation in running a house church, while Zhaveh was given a 2-year prison term for membership in the same group. Among the penalties imposed were a restriction on joining any organization of a political or social nature for two years, a prohibition on leaving the country for the same period of time, and six months of community service.
In December 2020, the appeals court maintained the convictions but lowered Ahmadi’s jail term to eight years, as reported by MEC. The pair was scheduled to go to Evin Prison on June 15, 2021, but because to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, they have been assured they may stay at home for an unspecified period of time.
MEC said, “On August 13, Homayoun and Sara responded to a summons to the jail, hoping to have seized items restored.” Instead, both of them were taken into custody. It is hoped that the severity of their sentences will be reconsidered, particularly considering Homayoun’s condition, and that they will be released. It is also hoped that the Iranian government would cease persecuting its own people for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.
INSANE INCREASE IN PRISONER NUMBERS
U.S. officials said that house church pastor Joseph Shahbazian was also convicted on June 7 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for “founding and running an organization that intends to harm national security.” He is now being held in Evin Prison. the United Nations’ Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
Pastor Shahbazian was detained on June 30, 2020, after police in numerous cities raided house churches. He was later freed on bond on August 22 of same year. Following the rejection of his appeal by a Tehran court in August, he reported to Evin Prison on August 30 to begin serving his sentence, as reported by USCIRF.
According to Barnabas Fund, despite the fact that he was able to worship with Iran’s ancient Armenian Christian minority, he became a target since he served as pastor of a church that welcomed Iranian converts from Islam.
According to advocacy organization Article 18, a cancer-stricken grandpa is being jailed in Vakilabad Prison in the Shiite stronghold of Mashad in northern Iran for converting to Christianity. According to Article 18, Gholamreza Keyvanmanesh, in his late 50s, and three other Christians seized in Neyshabur face accusations of “acting against national security via propaganda against the government” and “insulting the holy” (blasphemy).
The group said that the other three suspects, “two ladies and another guy, in his 40s and 50s, whose identities cannot be disclosed,” were being detained at Neyshabur Prison.
According to Article 18, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened at least eight more Christians who were present at the meetings of the four imprisoned Christians.
Further, “they were also made to sign promises to avoid from meeting with other Christians,” as stated by Article 18. Some of the goods taken from the church members were Bibles and cell phones.
Iran recognizes a number of minority religions, including Christianity, but converts to Christianity are not acknowledged and are often reviled as “enemy groups of a ‘Zionist’ cult,” the organisation said.
According to Article 18, Armenian and Assyrian Christians are not allowed to actively recruit new members or teach in languages other than their own.
Therefore, converts meet in private homes, but are routinely searched and accused of belonging to “illegal” organizations with “anti-security” intentions “despite though the meetings are no different from church gatherings everywhere in the globe,” Article 18 noted. Since the last several years, “dozens of Iranian Christians have been given jail terms of up to 15 years on similar trumped-up allegations.”
According to Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List, Iran is the ninth most difficult country in which to be a Christian.
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