By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
TEHRAN (Worthy News) - More than 50 Christian converts have been detained over the past week in five Iranian cities, and Christians said the number could rise.
The reported crackdown by Islamic authorities comes as Iran “doubled down” on hijab enforcement and policing women since protests erupted in the fall of 2022, rights group Amnesty International said.
Between April and July, “authorities…waged an intensified nationwide crackdown on women and girls who choose not to wear headscarves in public,” the rights group said.
The trend reflected the hardline leaders' commitment to the mandatory Islamic dress code despite widespread discontent.
Government measures included redeploying the morality police responsible for enforcing the strict dress code. The organization had largely disappeared after it detained Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died in detention for “improper hijab” in September 2022.
Tactics also ranged from using facial recognition to sending text warnings to women who did not wear the mandatory headscarf, rights activists said. Additionally, authorities have been imposing “degrading” punishments such as washing corpses and cleaning government buildings, activists said.
UNKNOWN CHARGES
Christians, who aren’t known for backing hijab-wearing and other policies to enforce Islam, have been targeted too.
Christians said some 51 believers were arrested at their homes or house churches – in the cities of Tehran, Karaj, Rasht, Orumiyeh, and Aligoudarz.
They remain in detention on unknown charges, while others were released on bail, according to well-informed sources.
“The evident crackdown on converts and house churches comes as the Shi’ite regime re-instigates (after a brief pause) its aggressive policing of Islamic norms,” noted Elizabeth Kendal, an international religious liberty analyst and advocate.
“Of particular concern to the regime is women’s compliance concerning the hijab, which has been compulsory since the 1979 Islamic Revolution,” she told Worthy News.
“Christian fear this wave of arrests heralds the beginning of a renewed effort to crush dissent, enforce Islamic norms and revive the values of the Islamic Revolution, added Kendal, who urged prayers.