Iran

Iranian Christian convert Mehran Shamlooei was arrested on July 3 upon arrival at Mashhad International Airport after being deported from Turkey, where he had sought refuge to avoid serving a harsh prison sentence handed down for his faith.

Two men who abandoned Islam and turned to faith in Christ have been forced to flee Iran, where they were sentenced to 12 years in prison each on charges linked to possessing “multiple copies of the Bible,” Christians told Worthy News.

Friends of a detained Christian woman in Tehran urged fellow believers to pray for her on Wednesday after Iran’s authorities demanded $135,000 in local currency for her release.

There was concern Friday about the detained wife of Pastor Joseph Shahbazian, who was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for his Christian work in Iran.

Christians have urged prayers for four detained Christians in Iran, including frail Pastor Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who was recently detained again after he already served 5 years in prison for activities linked to his faith in Christ.

An Iranian court has sentenced a Christian woman pregnant with her first child to 16 years imprisonment while two other believers also received lengthy jail terms for activities related to the Christian faith, trial observers confirmed Wednesday.

A new annual report by the Article 18 Iranian persecution watchdog a dramatic increase in the number and length of prison terms handed to Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran last year compared to 2023.

A leader of the Church of Iran, one of the Islamic Republic’s largest evangelical house church movements, was free Monday after being released from Minab prison in Hormozgan province in southern Iran, Christians told Worthy News.

Three Iranian Christians, who were previously known as Muslims, have been released after ten days in detention just weeks after another Christian was freed after years in jail for his faith, Christians say.