Iran

Both the Central Assembly of God Church in Tehran and its summer campsite have been closed by the Islamic authorities, according to the Farsi Christian News Network.

It's been almost three years since Iranian officials arrested Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani on charges of apostasy, but now Iranian judges may add crimes against national security and blasphemy, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

The rise of Christianity and the accompanying spread of its clandestine house churches in Iran is seen as a serious threat by the Islamic state's senior clerics.

Evangelical Christians in Iran's capital Tehran were without a church building Sunday, June 10, after Iranian security forces closed it down as part of a wider crackdown, Iranian Christians and activists told Worthy News.

Iranian authorities recently told church leaders to submit the names and National ID numbers of their members, threatening the security of Christian converts.

Prominent Iranian house church pastor Behnam Irani is still beaten in his prison but less frequently, an official assisting him with advocacy said Monday, just weeks after his family expressed concerns he may die.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's Iranian attorney has been convicted of defending the rights of religious prisoners in the Islamic state and may soon begin serving a lengthy sentence.

Following a February raid on a house church in Shiraz and the arrest of its Christian converts, the first of many interrogations for five detainees was finally held after they spent 80 days in Adel-Abad prison, according to Mohabat News.

Pastor Matthias Haghnejad and eleven members of his congregation were tried in Iran during Easter for their faith in Christ and are now awaiting the verdict.

Historic Christian monuments in Iran are being destroyed, or allowed to fall into disrepair in an attempt by the Islamic authorities to wipe out that country's Christian heritage.