AHVAZ, IRAN (ANS) – Two days before Christmas, State Security agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, attacked the Assembly of God Church in Ahvaz, and detained the pastor, the Rev. Farhad Sabok-Rooh, and his wife.

According to the Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN) — www.fcnn.com – the attack took place on Friday, December 23, 2011, at 11:00 local time, during the weekly service in the church located in the city of Ahvaz, the center of oil rich province of Khuzestan, situated about 559 miles south-west of Tehran, when a large number of State Security agents surrounded the building and raided the church, located in Kianpars 3th street.

“All those present, including children attending their Friday school, were arrested, mobile phones confiscated, and church building thoroughly searched by the plainclothes agents who refused to identify themselves,” said the FCCN story.

“A number of computers, all audio-visual equipment, and hundreds of copies of Christian books, were seized and removed; Church attendees were relieved of their mobile phones and were taken on two buses to an unknown destination.

“A number of armed State Security agents of the Islamic Republic stayed on who continued their search for a considerable time afterwards.”

FCNN reports that almost all detainees, after a thorough searched and considerable verbal abuse, were released a few hours later.

However, Rev. Farhad Sabok-Rooh, his wife Shahnaz, and two other Christian workers, named David and Naser, have not been released but are being held in an unidentified prison.

“The released church attendees have been told to be ready to be summoned back, and if it is deemed not to be harmful to the security of the Islamic Republic, their mobiles may be returned then,” said FCCN.

However, the whereabouts of Rev. Farhad, his wife Shahnaz, and the other two church workers is as yet unknown, and the “authorities” have thus far not given any reason for their vehement Anti-Christian activities in Ahvaz.

“During the months of January and February of this year; many house churches in Ahvaz and Dezfool were raided and during a wave of attacks against Christians,” added FCCN.

“Many have been detained while many more were called-in to the Ministry of Intelligence offices in Ahwaz. According to one source at least three have been detained and more than 20 were called in for interrogation and intimidation.”

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s sources, the authorities herded the entire congregation, including children, into two buses that had been brought specifically for this purpose. The majority were interrogated, threatened and eventually released. However, the church’s senior pastor, Pastor Farhad, remains in detention, along with his wife and some church leaders.

The church in Ahwaz is not a part of the house church movement, but is an official and long-established church whose membership largely consists of former followers of John the Baptist who converted to Christianity. Nevertheless, Pastor Farhad has been detained on several occasions in the past and warned not to allow Muslim converts into his church. This is also not the first time that Christmas celebrations in Iranian churches have been raided in this way. Similar raids and detentions during the Christmas season have occured in Iran for the last three years.

This wave of arrest comes as Iranian media has been publicizing a Christmas message sent to Pope Benedict from Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, in which he congratulated his Christian counterparts on the “auspicious anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ”, wished blessing, happiness and prosperity to the Pope and all Christians in the coming year, and stated that the world’s ills were caused by ignoring ethics and justice.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “Mr. Larijani’s Christmas message may have been well intentioned, but it is entirely undermined by these arrests, which violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Iran’s own constitution. The Iranian authorities often insist that Christians are being arrested for indulging in actions that threaten public security, however, it is difficult to conceive how children attending Sunday school or, for that matter, legitimate Christmas celebrations fit into this category. It increasingly appears as if the Iranian regime has decided to deem every act of Christian worship a threat to national security. If this is indeed the case, then the right to freedom of religion or belief is gravely under threat in Iran.”

TURKEY (ANS) — Abdol-Rahman Mohammad Pouri is one of a thousand Iranian youth who was born and brought up in a strict Islamic family, but chose not to follow his parent’s religion and converted to Christianity.

According to a story by Iranian Christian News Agency, Mohabat News, although he had to leave his home, he has remained strong in his faith and continues to grow in his relationship with God. Abdol-Rahman, 29 is currently seeking asylum in the neighboring country of Turkey.

Mohabat News reported he said that after he heard about Jesus he began to share his faith in the city of Semnan.

He said, “This action caused me problems as our city was fairly small. As a result and since I had some good Christian friends in Mahabad, I moved to that city and rented a house … That was the starting point for my extensive evangelical activities.”

He continued, “In my opinion, the violence and contradictions in Islam made it impossible for me to feel close to God. Because of this I replaced my traditional religion with Christianity.”

Separation from Family and friends
His conversion caused him family and social problems.

Mohabat News said Abdol-Rahman explained, “When my family and friends learned of my decision, they didn’t accept it and rejected me as a result. They made me leave our family home. In addition, my friends treated me like my family had and began calling me an apostate and an infidel. In Iran, anyone who converts to Christianity faces various problems. In spite of the love I had for my family, I had to leave my home. Everyone rejected me. The only thing that helped me through all these challenges was my faith in Christ.”

Restrictions of the Traditional Society
Abdol-Rahman spoke about people who choose to become Christians in Iran’s traditional society with all the security restrictions.

Mohabat News reported he said, “We couldn’t express our faith among other people or attend church freely. And because of the difficulties we faced about going to a church, I decided to devote my rental house to the Lord to be used as a house church.”

According to Abdol-Rahman, speaking openly about their faith and going to the churches was so dangerous for him and his friends that they had to gather in a house church in order to worship God, receive Christian teaching and study the Bible.

Their house church attendance attracted the attention of the security authorities who raided the house church, and prevented them from worshiping. In addition, some of the house church leaders were also identified by the authorities.

Mohabat News said Abdol-Rahman criticized the current Sharia based laws of Iran saying, “The Iranian regime is based on Islam, and in Islamic doctrine anyone who leaves Islam is considered an apostate and deserves to be killed. The Islamic regime is afraid of any kind of gathering, especially ones that contradict the Islamic faith and regime. In short, they cannot tolerate any other way of thinking than their own.”

Abdol-Rahman described his painful experiences in Iran and said the situation of his fellow believers in Iran is intense. “They face all the above-mentioned problems on a daily basis which unfortunately, sometimes end up in stress, torture, long term imprisonments and even death threats.”

Increase of Threats and Leaving the Country
Abdol-Rahman then described his leaving of Iran. He said, “After our house church was discovered by security authorities, I fled to the city of Urmia and stayed overnight with a friend in that city. The next day I learned that security authorities had broken into my home. So I decided to leave the country to avoid being arrested.”

Mohabat News said he added, “After some days, when I arrived in Turkey I also heard that security officers had raided my father’s home in Semnan. They showed my family a warrant and thoroughly searched there as well. During the raid they confiscated some personal belongings of my brother including his computer, CDs and some of his books.”

According to Mohabat News, Abdol-Rahman said after the security authorities made his house a target in the city of Mahabad, they raided it. Then the judicial and security authorities, following an order issued by the provincial court, confiscated all his belongings and his savings.

He said the authorities even sent a letter to his employers ordering them to fire him and ban him from working. They also sent several subpoenas to his father’s home, instructing him to appear at the revolutionary court of Semnan. But before all this happened he had left the country for Turkey.

HAMEDAN, IRAN (ANS) – An Iranian Christian were attacked soon after their release from prison, according to the FCNN (Farsi Christian News Network) news agency www.fcnn.com .

FCNN says they were one of two married couples who had been taken from their home by agents of the Ministry of State Security of the Islamic Regime in Sep. 2010, and held imprisoned for up to eight months without ever being formally charged.

This Christian couple, Arash Kermajani and his wife Arezoo Teymouri, who had been snatched and illegally-detained on their way to their homes and families, were attacked after their release from prison, and soon after this, fled the country for fear of their lives.

According to FCNN, this Christian couple were detained while guests of their friends Mr. and Mrs. Vahik and Sonia Abramian in Hamedan, in northwestern Iran.

FCNN reported that plain-clothes agents of the Ministry of State Security of the Islamic Regime raided the house, arrested them all, and took them to Centre 113 of Hamedan. They were then taken to a secret prison which was later identified as the central prison of Ministry of State Security of the Islamic Regime in Hamedan.

FCNN says that throughout their detention in this secret prison, they were kept in solitary confinement. Mrs. Arezoo Teymouri for 11 days, and her husband Arash Kermajani for 43 days; then transferred to the general ward of yet another notorious prison in Hamedan.

Solitary confinement and general prison ward

After their escape from the Islamic Republic, Mrs. Arezoo Teymouri, in an interview with an FCNN reporter, spoke of the conditions under which she was held and the reasons for her transfer to the general ward so much sooner than her husband: ” We were staying as guests at Brother Vahik and Sister Sonia’s house. On that particular day we were watching a film when State Security agents stormed in, the shock and induced fear caused spasms of bleeding, which coupled with the hunger strike that I started soon after, reduced my blood pressure to such a dangerously low levels that they were forced to take me to the city’s main hospital, demanding that I should not communicate nor speak, with anyone. As soon as my conditions improved, I was led back to the secret prison and then to the general ward of Hamedan’s main female prison.”

Remembering the harsh treatment she made to suffer in prison, Arezoo told the FCNN reporter that, “Just to put an innocent woman in solitary is in itself a severe form of torture. They did not inflict any physical torture on my body, but did not for a second stop their psychological tortures.”

Arezoo went on to say: “They ridiculed and debased me at every opportunity. Whenever I spoke of my Christian beliefs they imitated, ridiculed, and laughed at me. Well aware of my past life, they used it to crush me psychologically and reduce me to confessing to what they demanded. But I had learnt that reminders of a sinful past is Satanic, and so their attacks did not have any effect on my resolve to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ and to reconcile myself to the fact that He Will protect His flock. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who upon the Cross, took our sins unto Himself, is standing right by me — Alive, Comforting, and Protective — proving their falsehood.

She was asked if she was ever afraid?

Arezoo replied: “They tried very hard to frighten me, and I knew the situation was critical and felt my life in danger, so I naturally was terrified; but my belief in Jesus, and witnessing God’s work in my life helped me overcome their threats and not to allow fear overpowering me.”

Fear and Hope

Remembering his imprisonment in the hands of the State Security agents of the Islamic Republic, Arash Kermajani told the FCNN: “The first few days were the most difficult, I was afraid of what may happen to Arezoo and prayed for her all the time, asking my Lord to protect and save her. Then He gave me His calm and assurance concerning her fate and I was able to accept His decision in humility; I realized that God’s power is far greater than my fears. From then on my mind was at peace and I could clearly see the hand of God protecting us.”

Talking about the prison guards, Arash said: “I was under constant pressure to confess to have been helping foreigners against my country; my Christian beliefs were questioned and it was denigrated to the level of childish thoughts and a passing trend. To tell you the truth, there was a full-scale war going on inside those prison walls. But their efforts were for naught, none of the guards nor were agents of the Ministry of State Security of the Islamic Republic of any consequence. I was dealing vital blows to the heart of the enemy and was battling Satan with the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Explaining the reasons for their release from prison, Arash said: “The fact is that they had no excuse to detain us in the first place, and we have done absolutely nothing to warrant any punishment, and they knew it well. While in prison we actually heard that we have been accused of being ‘ideological thieves and members of a Zionist group opposing the Islamic Regime.’

“There was no substance to these spurious claims, and in no way was it possible to connect us to anything as their claimed. My wife and I are both from dysfunctional families and background. We have been directly touched and saved by Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has turned our lives around. For this reason, and to thank God for his deliverance, we only spoke of our own personal experiences with Jesus Christ to people and especially other social victims. After eight months I guess they realized they were wrong about us, and caught on the fact that we are but simple witnesses to Christ.”

Threats and Escape from the Islamic Republic

Speaking about their freedom and eventual escape from the Islamic Republic, Arash Kermajani stated: “Without any prior notice we were simply told to get out, nor were our families informed; nobody was aware of our sudden freedom.

“Coming out of the prison, which is some distance from the city of Hamedan, we were forced to move a long way before we reached the main road.”

He added: “Mrs. Sonia Keshish Avanesian, Arezoo, and I got in a hired car and as it started to move, three motorcycles with pylon riders surrounded the car and rode some distance alongside the car screaming obscenities and throwing bricks at the car. All the way to Tehran we feared for our safety and lives.”

Talking about their flight from the Islamic Republic, Arash said: “To tell you the truth, from the moment we got out of the prison gates we never felt safe, actually quite the opposite. We feared attack by Islamic vigilantes and Agents of the Islamic Regime. All venues of work and employment were closed to us and we were constantly under surveillance; so we decided to leave the country for our own safety and seek refuge elsewhere.”

Arezoo and Arash are now in one of the neighboring countries awaiting relocation by the UNHCR. They wished not to have been forced to leave the country of their birth, but pray to be able to serve the Lord wherever they are being sent to.

ISTANBUL(Compass Direct News) – The mistreatment of a pastor in Iran awaiting a decision on his death sentence for refusing to recant his faith amounts to physical and psychological torture, a source close to the pastor’s family said.

Yousef (also spelled Youcef) Nadarkhani, sentenced to death a year ago after a court of appeals in Rasht, Iran, found him guilty of leaving Islam in September 2010, is in deteriorating health, according to a member of Nadarkhani’s denomination, the Church of Iran, who requested anonymity.

He said that communication with Nadarkhani is limited, but that sources close to the imprisoned Christian indicated that he has undergone physical and psychological torture.

“Certainly he was hit, but his [telephone] conversations are heard [by authorities],” the source said. “We know that he has been in extreme situations, and we consider that torture. When you have spent time in a solitary cell unable to talk to others for a long time, or you are told you will be killed, this is also torture.”

The court in Rasht, 243 kilometers (151 miles) northwest of Tehran, was expected to pronounce a verdict on Nadarkhani’s appeal last month, and sources said the court’s long silence bodes ill. Instead of pronouncing a verdict, the court sent the Christian’s case to the nation’s Islamic authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, to make a ruling.

Authorities have also continued to pressure Nadarkhani to recant his faith while in prison. Last month they gave him Islamic literature aimed at discrediting the Bible, according to sources, and instructed him to read it.

Some sources indicate a ruling could come the second half of December. One said some Iranian Christians believe that, in the face of international outrage over the case, the government would announce a verdict near the Christmas holidays so that it would receive less notice. On Nov. 10, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) reported that a verdict on Nadarkhani’s case was expected in mid-December, regardless of whether there is a ruling by Khamenei.

Authorities arrested Nadarkhani in his home city of Rasht in Oct. 2009 on charges that he questioned obligatory religion classes in Iranian schools. After finding him guilty of apostasy, the court of appeals in Rasht in November 2010 issued a written confirmation of his charges and death sentence.

At an appeal hearing in June, the Supreme Court of Iran upheld Nadarkhani’s sentence but asked the court in Rasht to determine if he was a practicing Muslim before his conversion. The court declared that Nadarkhani was not a practicing Muslim before his conversion, but that he was still guilty of apostasy due to his Muslim ancestry.

The Supreme Court had also determined that his death sentence could be annulled if he recanted his faith. The Rasht court gave Nadarkhani three chances to recant Christianity in accordance with sharia (Islamic law), but Nadarkhani refused to do so. His final appeal hearings ended on Sept. 28, and the court was expected to make its final decision two weeks from the final hearing.

“For the moment, we are waiting,” said the Church of Iran source. “We have no response for now. The only thing his lawyer told me is that the file went to the Supreme Court, but normally we should have had a response by now.”

There are two more Christians from the Church of Iran, a denomination that Iranian Christians accuse of being “non-Trinitarian,” who are also serving prison sentences. Behnam Irani has been in prison since he was arrested on April 14 in Karaj, charged with “propaganda against the system.” Authorities were due to release him on Oct. 20, but instead they handed him a letter just days before informing him that a five-year prison sentence from 2008 for “action against national security,” which had been suspended, was effective immediately due to the second conviction on a similar charge, according to Mohabat News.

The other incarcerated Christian, Mehdi Foroutan (also known as Petros), has been in prison in Shiraz for two months, serving a one-year sentence for propaganda against the state and “action against national security,” according to sources.

As Christians in Iran are held hostage to the government’s political whims, the source said, the key to their freedom is continued pressure from the international community.

“The pressure is the most important thing,” he said. “When the Iranian state sees pressure, they will understand the world hasn’t forgotten Yousef, Behnam and Petros.”

Nadarkhani’s lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, also faces charges for “actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime,” due to his human rights activities.

In the past week U.S. State Department Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Suzan Johnson Cook called for the release of Pastor Nadarkhani, according to CBN.

“I want to echo President Obama’s and Secretary Clinton’s – and repeat my own – condemnation of his conviction and our calls on Iranian authorities to release Pastor Nadarkhani immediately,” Cook said, according to CBN. “I urge all of you to do the same.”

Arrests of Christians

Another wave of arrests is expected this December and January, a favorite time for Iranian authorities to make the rounds at Christian house group meetings, according to the Church of Iran source. He said the best Christmas gift for Iranian Christians this year would be for Western powers and Christians to continue to lobby for their freedoms.

Historically, the Iranian government has cracked down on Christians during the Christmas season, when house group members gather in larger numbers. Last year in a two-month period over the holidays, authorities arrested more than 120 Christians belonging to Iran’s underground church.

All have been released, with a few known exceptions. One of those arrested, Farshid Fathi, 32, has been in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran since Dec. 26, 2010. He has spent much of that time in solitary confinement and has been mistreated, according to Mohabat News. He is married and has two young children.

Noorollah Ghabitizadeh (also spelled Qabitizade) has been in prison since Dec. 24, 2010. Authorities originally held him in Dezful and later transferred him to Ahwaz as punishment for starting a Bible study at the Dezful prison, Mohabat News reported.

Authorities have reportedly put Ghabitizadeh under intense pressure to renounce Christianity and return to Islam. In his first trial hearing two months ago, a judge pressured him by telling him his death penalty for apostasy would be decided in that court hearing, according to Mohabat News.

On Oct. 17 authorities arrested another Christian convert, Fariborz Arazm, 44, in Robat Karim, according to Mohabat News. His whereabouts and condition are unknown.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International issued a statement denouncing the continual degradation of human rights in Iran and the unwillingness of the government to espouse international human rights practices.

The official religion of Iran is Shiite Muslim, and the country’s laws and regulations are based on sharia.

Sources close to the Yousef Nadarkhani apostasy case have informed Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) that Pastor Nadarkhani’s lawyers have been told to expect a decision from the Supreme Leader in mid-December, occasioning fears that it may be issued to coincide with the Christmas season in order to avoid an international outcry. The court in Rasht has sent two letters regarding the case to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, but is still awaiting a response.

Other members of Pastor Nadarkhani’s denomination are also facing difficulties. CSW has been informed that the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz has asked three Church of Iran members, to surrender themselves to the authorities to begin prison sentences. Pastor Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani, Mr. Mohammad Beliad and his wife Nazly Beliad were part of a larger a group that is due to serve one year sentences for ‘crimes against the order’ following an unsuccessful appeal earlier this year. Pastor Khanjani is also known to have been tortured during a previous imprisonment in Shiraz. Their lawyer has advised them not to present themselves until a written request has been issued.

Pastor Benham Irani of the Church of Iran is currently serving a five year sentence, whilst Farshid Fathi Malayeri, who belongs to a different denomination, remains detained without charge nearly eleven months after his arrest. Church leader Noorollah Ghabitizadeh, who was arrested on Christmas Eve in 2010, is still being held in Ahwaz and, according to Mohabat News, has been verbally informed he may receive a death sentence. Like Pastor Nadarkhani, he too has been asked to recant his faith.

CSW’s Team Leader for Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Khataza Gondwe, said, “It is worrying that the Supreme Leader has delayed a decision on Pastor Nadarkhani’s case, leaving the pastor and his family in a distressing state of limbo. We continue to urge a swift decision, and to call for a full acquittal and release, since the verdict is in violation of Iranian law, and of the spirit of article 23 of the Iranian constitution. The Supreme Leader now has an opportunity to demonstrate Iran’s commitment to work within its own civil law code, where apostasy is not a codified crime, and its obligations as a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which allows for freedom of religion and belief. The international community must remain vigilant in order to ensure that the Iranian authorities cannot use a hiatus to issue a negative ruling. Iran must also be urged to cease the detention of individuals without charge, and to uphold the rights and freedoms of members of minority faiths.”

AHWAZ, IRAN (Assist News Service) – News has just come out of Iran that Noorollah Qabitizade, an Iranian Christian convert and house church leader, whose condition had been unknown for the past 10 months, is being held in Ahwaz prison in Khuzestan Province, “with an unknown fate.”

According to the Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News (www.mohabatnews.com), he has “been subjected to interrogations by security authorities from the Intelligence Ministry” and has also been pressured to “renounce his faith in Christ.”

The ASSIST News Service (ANS) has learned from reporters of Mohabat News that the house church leader was not allowed to contact his family during the first month of his imprisonment.

“His condition inside the prison was also unknown,” ANS was told. “During that first month, he was subjected to intense interrogation in an attempt to force him to renounce his Christian faith and return to Islam.

“They applied mental pressure on him to sign commitments to not evangelize, to repent his decision to leave Islam, and to renounce his Christian faith.

“Although the judicial and security authorities had promised to release Noorollah after writing a repentance disclaimer, Noorollah was unwilling to do so.”

Mr. Qabitizade, according to Mohabat News, was able to “withstand the the pressure” and “not only didn’t give up his hope but he even tried to share his faith with other prisoners and organized some prayer meetings inside the Dezful prison where he was initially being held.”

The news source said that this made the prison guards “so angry” that they transferred him to the prison of Ahwaz (100 miles south of Dezful).

“Noorollah said that the transfer resulted from his speaking about Jesus with other prisoners,” ANS was told.

His first trial was held two months ago in the courthouse of the city Ahwaz in the first criminal branch and Mr. Poor Mohammadian presided at that session.

“Noorollah’s hands and feet were chained as he arrived in court,” said an eyewitness. “The mental pressure on him increased when he was told that his death sentence would be issued in this trial. At the end of the session, they also offered him another opportunity to renounce his Christian faith and return to Islam so that his punishment would be reduced.”

A spokesperson for Mohabat News added, “It’s necessary to note here that on Friday, December 24, 2010, ten new Christians from the city of Dezful (434 miles south-east of Tehran) were about to celebrate Christmas Eve with fellow Christians from Ahwaz and Andimeshk. However they were all arrested by security forces, including pastor Noorollah Qabitizade, the host of that night’s house church celebrations. He, along with ten others, was transferred, hand-cuffed and blind folded, to a safe house in the center of Dezful.

“Other detainees from the cities of Ahwaz and Andimeshk were interrogated about their conversion to Christianity. They were asked to name their Christian friends and tell what they knew about them, and then how they knew Mr. Qabitizade. They were all released that night after being finger-printed and asked to report to the office of Ministry of Information in the city of their residence the next morning.”

Local sources report that a renewed campaign of harassment of Iranian Christians is underway in Iran, and that several members of the Church of Iran denomination have recently been called in for questioning. Many have been threatened with charges of blasphemy, while one was informed he would be punished for engaging in “actions against the security of the state”, a term increasingly adopted in reference to taking part in Christian meetings.

Another Church of Iran member, Mehdi Furutan, was recently transferred from Shiraz prison to an underground cell in Adelabad security prison, where the torture of inmates regularly takes place. Mr Furutan has been incommunicado for a week and his current condition is unknown. He had just begun serving a one year prison sentence, after an earlier sentence for ‘crimes against the order’ was upheld at an appeal hearing. Whilst in the general prison in Shiraz Mr Furutan had also been presented with Islamic religious books, and sources fear that his transfer to Adelabad may have been prompted by responses he may have made when questioned about them.

Pastor Benham Irani of the Church of Iran, who led a church in Karaj, was informed on 18 October that he would immediately begin serving a five-year sentence for an earlier conviction for ‘action against the security of the country’, which had been suspended since the verdict was confirmed at an appeal hearing in February 2008. The pastor was due to complete a one-year prison sentence for Christian activities on 20 October. While a charge of apostasy was not brought against him, the verdict included text that defined Pastor Irani as an apostate and reiterated that apostates “can be killed”.

CSW’s Special Ambassador Stuart Windsor said, “CSW is deeply concerned at news of a further increase in the harassment of Iranian Christians, especially the wording of the verdict against Pastor Irani, which, according to local sources, opens the way for execution or even assassination. The condition and treatment of Mehdi Furutan and of all persons held in the Adelabad facility is another source of concern. There is an increasing tendency by Iranian courts and officials to characterize legitimate Christian activities as crimes against the state. In addition, reports that non-Muslim prisoners are being forced to comment on Islamic theological works in a manner that could possibly render them vulnerable to mistreatment, and even to charges of blasphemy, indicates that Iran is violating article 23 of its constitution, which forbids the investigation of an individual’s beliefs. Iran is also in flagrant violation of its obligations under international law to allow all of its citizens to freely manifest their religious beliefs.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

IRAN – Iranian security forces have stormed a house church and arrested 10 members.

According to the Iranian Christian News Agency Mohabat News, the incident occurred on March 17, when 17 security officers stormed a house in the city of Kermanshah and arrested 10 Christians.

Kermanshah is located in the western part of Iran near Iraqi border, 590 KM from Tehran.

Mohabat News said while there has been no explanation offered by the Iranian Government’s security sources, it is likely that these 10 house church members were arrested because of their Christian beliefs and participation in church gatherings. That, the news agency commented, is is in line with the recent wave of repressive actions taken by the government against Iranian Christians.

Mohabat News said the house was a place for new believers to get together for praise and worship. Intelligence Ministry agents used excessive force to arrest the Christians, and they were then handcuffed and moved to an undisclosed location.

Mohabat News said there is a good reason for Christian believers in Iran worshiping in private homes. The country’s theocratic government does not allow Farsi speaking Christians to have a church building as a place of worship.

Mohabat News said security forces also searched the home and collected Christian paintings, Bibles, DVDs, a computer case and personal identifications.

Mohabat News said the agency was informed that seven of the detainees were released on March 18 after long hours of interrogation. The release occurred after they were pictured and finger printed, and signed an affidavit saying they would never participate in such (Christian) events again.

There is no word about the well being of those who remain in custody or where they are.

Mohabat News said a well placed source says the families of the individuals still imprisoned have unsuccessfully asked the authorities for information on their loved ones.

Mohabat News said prior to this incident, an elderly Christian minister, Rev Wilson Issavi, was arrested by government security agents in the city of Kermanshah on February 2, 2010 and was released temporarily, after 54 days in detention, from the Dastgerd prison in Isfahan after posting bail. He is still waiting to be summoned to the revolutionary court to deal with the charges brought against him.

For more information go to www.mohabatnews.com

IRAN (ANS) – A new Christian, and an active member of a house church ,was arrested by Iranian security forces. During his interrogation, he was severely beaten and tortured at the town of Shahryar’s Detention Center.

According to a story by Mohabat News, an Iranian Christian news agency, the man was released on condition he not seek medical treatment.

Mohabat said its sources say Alireza Najafzadeh is 23, and married with a newborn child. He was a resident of Shahryar, in the vicinity of the city of Karaj, and a member of the local house church of Karaj, about 25 km from Tehran.

In Sep. 2010 he was arrested and charged with Christian activism. In addition to his beating, Mohabat said, Najafzadeh was tortured physically and psychologically for three days.

Mohabat said witnesses from Shahryar and Karaj who knew Najafzadeh, say he is an honest and hardworking man who works hard to support his family. He spends his free time distributing the Bible to area residents, as well as helping residents in need.

Najafzadeh, who is in hiding, spoke to Mohabat about his experience.

He told Mohabat he believed he was identified by his telephone number, which he said, “was used as a means of ordering Bibles and offering social assistance to countless people in the community.”

Najafzadeh said on the evening of Sept. 26 while returning home from work, he noticed that his house was under surveillance by authorities. As a result, he stayed away from home for a while. Later, Najafzadeh said, he used a public phone to call his wife, who was close to giving birth. She told him disturbing information.

“She told me that plain clothes men had entered the house and had identified themselves as officers belonging to the Ministry of Information, and had questioned her about my whereabouts.”

Najafzadeh said upon discovering that he was not home, officers locked his wife up in a room and began searching the house. They discovered several Christian books, including some Bibles, and other items such as a satellite dish. They released his wife, but took a number of items with them.

Najafzadeh said the officers told his wife that if her husband called, she should tell him that government officers have discovered evidence, collected from the phone company, that connected him to illegal foreign Christian television networks. As a result of that, he should immediately call a telephone number they provided and surrender himself to the authorities.

The Arrest

A couple of days later, Najafzadeh called the number that was given to his wife and after receiving directions to a designated location, turned himself in to a security unit in Shahryar.

Najafzadeh told Mohabat about his ordeal, which grew progressively worse after some introductory formalities.

He said that a man “man came in and pulled a cloth bag over my head … My eyes could no longer see where I was being taken. In (this) … room, which was used for interrogations, there was a man waiting who seemed to be in charge of the questioning process. He knew many things about Christianity and the church movement in Iran. He asked me to tell him which local house church I belong to. He also asked me to identify all the members and leaders of my house church, and to specify which foreign Christian networks or organizations I am affiliated with.”

Najafzadeh said when his interrogators realized they weren’t getting the information they asked for, they said they would keep him there as long as necessary to get what they wanted.

He continued, “(The interrogator) covered my face again and took me into a different room, which seemed to be a very small prison like cell, and had me sit there. The place was so small that I could only sit, and could not stretch or lay down. Meanwhile, with my eyes still covered, several times some men came in and poured cold water on my face and body. I was totally disoriented, and lost my awareness of place and time.”

Najafzadeh told Mohabat when his answers continued to be unsatisfactory, his interrogator became increasingly violent.

He said, “He would kick my legs and feet hard with his boots. Once in a while, during the interrogation, he would call someone’s name and would ask him to beat me up hard. This man, whoever he was, would start to insult me with the ugliest words and would punch all of my body. I could not defend or protect myself because my hands were tied at the back to the chair.”

Tortured for His Faith

Najafzadeh was repeatedly interrogated. He told Mohabat he was taken on several occasions to another room, handcuffed from behind and hung from a hook. Interrogators would then begin to insult him, his family, his faith, Christianity, Christ, and anything else they could think of, and start whipping him with a loose cable or a water hose.

Whenever Najafzadeh would plead to his captors and agree to confess, they would bring him down from the hanging hook and resume their questions regarding the house church and his affiliation with foreign Christian networks and organizations.

Najafzadeh told Mohabat, “Every time that my answers would not satisfy them, they would once again hang me from a hook and start beating me harder than before with things like a cable cord or a water hose; so much that I would pass out. They would then pour water on me and as soon as I would (regain) consciousness, would resume their torture. Every time they would torture me, the intensity of their violence would increase to a point that I would completely pass out.”

Freedom and Escape

Finally, Mohabat said after three days of continuous torture, Najafzadeh’s family was able to find someone able to post bail and release him from prison.

Mohabat said officials were willing to release Najafzadeh on the condition that he would under no circumstances seek medical help of any sort for his injuries he received while incarcerated until his file could be reviewed by a local revolutionary court.

Najafzadeh told Mohabat, “They told me that if I talked about my interrogation or torture with anyone, or continue my Christian activities, I would face severe consequences such as being killed intentionally by a car that would look like an accident.”

“Or,” he added, “my family would find my dead body in a farm field outside of the town with no reasonable explanation as to the cause of death.”

Worried for his life, Mohabat said Najafzadeh spent a large amount of money to leave Iran several weeks after he was released on bail. His family joined him soon after. They are now refugees, and have lost everything for their Christian faith.

Najafzadeh is planning to complain to Amnesty International and other human rights advocacy organizations about his experience.

Mohabat said he hopes that the world, especially Christians, will prayerfully support him as he and his family resettle in a safe country.