The Christian advocacy group Article18 has reported the arrest of several Christians in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

Two of them, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh and Joseph Shahbazian, have previously been sentenced to ten years in prison for “actions against national security”, due to their involvement in house churches.

Nasser, 63, an Iranian Armenian, was released in October 2022 after nearly five years in prison, while Joseph, 60, a Christian convert, was released the following September after spending just over a year in the prison of Evin.

According to the information available, they were re-arrested by intelligence agents at their homes on the morning of 6 February and taken back to Evin prison.

Report on persecution of Christians

The new annual report of Article18, which was presented at the United Nations in Geneva last January, points out that any Christian who is considered “non-aligned” with the aims of the Islamic Republic can face arrest and imprisonment on “security” charges.

That is why one of the recommendation of the report for the Iranian authorities, is to “end the criminalisation of house-church organisation and membership”. They also call for “clarity on where Persian-speaking Christians may worship freely in their mother tongue, without fear of arrest and prosecution”.

A third recommendation of the Article18 report is to “drop all charges against Christians related to church activities deemed lawful by the Iranian Supreme Court”.

That recommendation refers to a 2021 ruling in Tehran that made clear that participation in house churches or even the propagation of what was termed “the evangelical Zionist sect” should not be considered an “action against national security”.

European Parliament against repression of Christians in Iran

In a resolution adopted by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 23 January, MEPs called for the protection of various minorities in Iran, as well as the situation of women who have been detained for ideological reasons.

[photo_footer] Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský during the debate on the resolution in Strasbourg on 23 January. / EU[/photo_footer] 

“Dozens of innocent EU nationals have been arbitrarily detained in Iran, without access to fair trials, as part of Iran’s broader strategy of hostage diplomacy", says the EU Parliament, and condemns “the Iranian regime’s systemic suppression of human rights movements and persecution of minorities, including Kurds, Baluchis, Christians, facing persecution after conversion, and Baha’is, all of them facing ethnic and religious discrimination”.

The resolution also denounces “arrests and violations of fundamental rights aimed at silencing dissent”.

Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský hailed the resolution for “speaking about Christians who are living under the pressure of the Islamic regime in Iran”.

“This is the first time in the European parliament where we openly speak about people who are converting to Christianity and they are under the pressure. And this is the victory of this democratic institution”, he added.

The Italian MEP Silvia Sardone also stressed that “it is important not to forget the persecution of minorities by the Iranian regime, including Christians, Kurds and Bahá’ís” and all victims of ethnic and religious discrimination”.

Despite persecution, Iran is one of the countries where Christianity is experiencing a significant growth.

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