Release International

Christians in Iran are concerned by a recent wave of arrests targeting their community – and by officials' threats of more to follow.

Religious rights group Middle East Concern (MEC) reports that arrests have been made in Tehran and various other cities in a crackdown which began over Christmas.

Sources confirm that 25 Christians with a Muslim background – including church leaders and five married couples – were arrested at their homes in several cities. Two couples were separated from very young children.

In most cases, armed security officials entered homes by force, abused the Christians physically and verbally, handcuffed them and then took them away for questioning.

MEC reports that 14 of the 25 are still in detention. The 11 others were reportedly interrogated and forced to sign statements declaring they would no longer participate in Christian activities before being released.

There are reports of other arrests, though the precise numbers involved are not yet clear. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that 50 others have been detained.

The Governor General of Tehran province, Morteza Tamaddon, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that a number of evangelical Christians had been arrested. He referred to them as a 'corrupt' influence and gave warning that further arrests were imminent.

'Just like the Taliban... who have inserted themselves into Islam like a parasite, they have crafted a movement with Britain's backing in the name of Christianity,' he told the state-run news agency, IRNA.

Christianity is among the religions officially recognised in Iran but officials appear to be targeting the house church movement and believers with a Muslim background. Under Iran's Sharia-based law, apostasy – renouncing Islam – is punishable by death.

(Sources: AFP, IRNA, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Middle East Concern)

• Pray for the immediate release of all those Christians who have been arrested since Christmas – and all those believers across Iran detained for their faith. Pray that God's love and peace will surround them and their families.
• Pray that the Iranian authorities will stop seeing the house church network as a threat to national security and come to see it as a force for good.

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