TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) – Thirteen Christian converts have been arrested following an attack by security authorities on a house church in Iran. Three of them are being held in custody at an unknown location, according to Mohabat News.

The news agency says that February 21, 2012, at 7 in the evening, security authorities raided a home dedicated to be used a house church and seized all thirteen gathered there for worship. To date, no precise news is available regarding some of these detainees.

Mohabat News says that during this incident, security authorities who were wearing plain clothes transferred these Christians to an unknown location while insulting and abusing them.

The authorities also invaded and thoroughly searched the detainees’ homes and confiscated some of their personal belongings.

Numerous Christian converts have already been arrested in various cities in their house church gatherings, homes or workplaces by order of judicial and security authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a result of the continued anti-Christian wave in Iran during past months.

Now, in addition to Ahwaz, Shiraz, Esfahan and Tehran, this on-going wave has reached the city Kermanshah, 526 KMs west of Tehran, in the western part of Iran.

A knowledgeable source told Mohabat News that the Christian detainees may have been transferred to a building in Hafezieh Junction in Kermanshah or 22-Bahman Street which is known as the location of security and intelligence forces.

The source said that nine of these detainees (their names are not given due to security reasons) were released the next day after their photos were taken, their details and fingerprints recorded and they signed a disclaimer stating they would not attend any Christian gatherings.

Mohabat News also received word that Ms. Azadeh Sharifi was released on February 28 after enduring 8 days in custody. As yet, no detailed information has been received regarding the way she was released.

Three other detainees, Mehdi Chaghakaboudi, Mojtaba Baba-Karami and Shirin Ghanbari, however, are still being held. Some of the named Christians had also been arrested by security authorities before.

The source also stated that on February 28, Ms. Shirin Ghanbari and Mojtaba Baba-Karami were permitted to have a brief contact with their families telling them that they are in a good health. However, it seems that they were prevented by prison authorities from giving any additional information or details on their situation.

Mohahbat News further says that Masoud Delijani, a Christian convert resident of Kermanshah and a member of a house church, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Kermanshah for the charges of having faith in Christianity, holding illegal house church gatherings, evangelizing Muslims and action against national security. He is currently being held in Deizal-Abad prison in Kermanshah to serve his sentence.

Prior to this, on January 2, 2010, the official Pentecostal church of Assyrians in Kermanshah was also closed by the order of the judicial and security authorities for spreading Christianity among Farsi-speaking Muslims and for preaching the gospel. Security authorities also arrested the pastor of the church, Wilson Isavi on February 2, 2010. He was temporarily released on bail after 54 days in Dastgerd prison in Esfahan.

Mohabat News states: “With the growth in the number of Iranian converts to Christianity in recent years, and the increased pressure by the Islamic government on Christians, especially Christian converts, the Islamic Republic is seeking to stop the growth of house churches in Iran by any means.

“The Islamic Republic considers the growth of Christianity as a religious threat against its national security and is greatly concerned about the spread of the truth of the gospel among the people.”

Officials are holding the Christians at an unknown location, they said.

The sources put the number of the arrested Christians, who belong to one of Iran’s many underground house churches, at between six and 10. Authorities often detain, question and apply pressure on converts from Islam, viewing them as elements of Western propaganda set against the Iranian regime; as a result, the converts are forced to worship in secret.

The identity of only one of those arrested on Wednesday (Feb. 8), Mojtaba Hosseini, was known. Authorities arrested Hosseini in 2008 along with eight other Christian converts on charges of being Christians, according to Mohabat News.

“I guess they have been watching Hosseini since then,” an Iranian Christian who requested anonymity told Compass.

Shiraz is not a particularly “religious” part of predominantly Shiite Islamic Iran, the Christian explained, but persecution against Christians in Iran stems from the government more than from local religious sentiment. The families of the victims have requested information about their whereabouts, but authorities have refused to provide it, according to Mohabat News.

In past years authorities have arrested Christians around Christmas time, and the Compass source said that the international community and media monitoring religious rights in Iran were expecting another crack-down last December. Instead, he said, the government was more cautious and arrested small groups over a wider period of time.

In December authorities arrested a group of Christian converts in the city of Ahwaz, about 874 kilometers (542 miles) southwest of Tehran in Khuzestan Province. Of those arrested, three Christians remain in prison: Pastor Farhad Sabokroh, Naser Zamen-Defzuli and Davoud Alijani. They are held in Ahwaz’s Karoun Prison, according to Mohabat News.

Sources have expressed concern for Sabokroh’s health. Prior to his arrest, which took place at his church’s Christmas service on Dec. 23, Sabokroh underwent cataract surgery. In prison he does not have access to the medication he needs for his eyes. His wife visited him briefly on Jan. 27 and said she was concerned about his health, as he has lost a lot of weight, according to Mohabat News.

Authorities had also arrested Sabokroh’s wife at the Christmas service and released her on Jan. 1 when she submitted the deed of a house as bail, according to Mohabat News. Christians are forced to put their homes up as bail in Iran, a practice that sources say is an extortion tactic to erode them of their finances and to better control them.

Authorities have not formally charged Sabokroh, Zamen-Defzuli and Alijani.

Noorollah Qabitizade, whom authorities arrested on Dec. 24, 2010, is also held at the Karoun prison in Ahwaz. Mohabat News reported that interrogators have put psychological pressure on Qabitizade in the last year and have forced him to sign statements in an effort to make him renounce his faith.

Farshid Fathi, who was arrested on Dec. 24, 2010 in Tehran, remains in the capital’s notorious Evin prison. Sources said a court hearing had been scheduled this month but were unable to provide more information.

Iranian authorities continue to arrest and subject Christians to harsh treatment, but many of these cases remain unknown to the outside world. At the end of January, Mohabat News released information on the case of Leila Mohammadi, whom authorities had arrested in July last year.

She spent 74 days in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin prison. On Jan. 18 a judge sentenced her to two years of prison for “collaborating with foreign-dependent groups, broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by forming house churches, insulting sacred figures and acting against national security,” according to Mohabat News.

Authorities released her on bail on Dec. 28, 2011, and her attorney has sent her case to Tehran Province’s high court.

Iran applies sharia (Islamic law), which dictates that converts from Islam to other religions are “apostates” and thus punishable by death. Although judges rarely sentence Christians to death for leaving Islam, one Christian, Yousef (also spelled Youcef) Nadarkhani, is appealing such a decision in the northeastern city of Rasht.

Nadarkhani has been in prison since October 2009. A Rasht court found him guilty of leaving Islam and handed him the death sentence in September 2010.

Behnam Irani, who belongs to the same denomination as Nadarkhani, The Church of Iran, has been in prison in Karaj since May 2011; he turned himself in after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, according to rights group Middle East Concern.

Irani was previously arrested in April 2010 and released on bail after a few months. In January 2011 a court found him guilty of “crimes against national security” and sentenced him to one year in prison. Authorities told him he must also serve a five-year sentence handed down in 2008.

Asked if there was a change in persecution trends from previous years, the Compass source said, “Nothing has changed, the issue is the same,” explaining that the attitude of the government toward Christians remains hostile.

Authorities have prohibited musical worship and Bible distribution at the Central Church of Tehran, the largest and most visible Assemblies of God church in the country. Last December officials enforced a policy under which only invited guests could attend a Christmas service at the church, and in December 2009 the church succumbed to intense pressure by authorities to discontinue its Friday services, which had attracted the most converts to Christianity.

TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) — In the latest approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran to oppose the growth of Christianity, a Christian convert was sentenced to one year of deprivation of education by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

According to the Iranian Christian news agency, www.MohabatNews.com , Ms. Fatemeh Nouri, an art student in one of the universities in Tehran (the name of university is withheld for security reasons) was sentenced to one year of deprivation of education by the Revolutionary Court for believing in Christianity.

Mohabat News says Ms. Nouri is a Christian convert who was arrested by security authorities on September 2011 at her residence in east Tehran and then transferred to Evin prison.

In an online report, Mohabat News says Ms. Nouri was convicted on charges of “attending a house church, insulting sacred figures, and activities against national security” in Revolutionary Courts branch of Moalem Street. The judge’s ruling was one year deprivation of education for her.

“This Christian convert was released on November 30, 2011, after nearly three months in prison, but the sentence of deprivation of education remained in place,” Mohabat News stated.

The news agency said Ms. Nouri’s arrest was related to the case of another Christian convert, Leila Mohammadi.

Commenting on the case, Mohanat News said: “It’s notable that Ms. Mohammadi was found guilty of ‘collaborating with foreign-dependent groups, broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by forming what is called a house church, insulting sacred figures and activities against national security’ by the Revolutionary Court branch of Moalem Street on January 18, after enduring five months in custody. However, the judge acquitted her of the charge of ‘collaborating with foreign-dependent groups’ for he believed that the crime was done unintentionally. Therefore, this Christian convert was sentenced to two years in prison and the ruling was delivered to her.”

Sentence of deprivation of education is against the law

Mohabat News explains that although the Iranian constitution clearly affirms religious freedom for followers of non-Islamic faiths, the Islamic Republic regime has by its actions proved that it not only violates its own domestic laws but does not even show respect to international conventions and is careless in their enforcement.

Mohabat News stated: “Prior to this case, such rulings were an instrument in the hands of the regime to pressure the Bahaei community or a group of dissatisfied university students,but today they are used to threaten and pressure Christians as well. It seems that prior to Ms. Nouri’s case such sentences were not issued for Christian converts. This shows that previous methods of the regime for opposing Christians were ineffective.”

The news agency goes on to say that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted on December 10, 1948, “considers the rights of education as a right for all mankind regardless their race, color, belief, religion and gender.” According to this, everyone has the right to education (Section 1, Article 26 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

Mohabat News concluded: “In the past, after identifying university students who had converted from Islam to Christianity, the Islamic Republic had made some efforts against them in holding Islamic courses to guide them to its own chosen way which is nothing other than Islam.

“So, they were trying to impact these students’ thoughts and change them through discussions. However, it seems that failure of these former approaches has caused the regime to use deprivation of education or expulsion from universities as a new way to oppose the growth of Christianity and put pressure on Christian converts and their families.”

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.”