Release International

Release International, which serves persecuted Christians worldwide, has launched an appeal to support the Christians of Iran. It welcomes Ramtin’s release, and is calling for more prayer and support for persecuted Christians in Iran. Further information is available from: www.releaseinternational.org 

‘We’re pleased Ramtin has been allowed to leave custody,’ says Release CEO Andy Dipper. ‘But scores of other Iranians who have become Christians are still in jail for their faith. Many of those could face execution, because the Iranian Parliament has called overwhelmingly for the death penalty for Muslim converts.’ 

The authorities hanged Ramtin Soodmand’s father, Pastor Hossein Soodmand, in 1990. Other pastors have been assassinated by unknown killers.  

‘Many more Christian leaders could be killed if Iran brings in the death penalty for apostasy,’ says Andy Dipper. ‘The Iranian authorities have taken it upon themselves to execute their own citizens who exercise their basic human right to choose their own religion. Please join us in praying and putting pressure on Iran to scrap this proposal.’ 

Shortly before Ramtin Soodmand was set free, Release produced a viral video highlighting his plight and that of other Iranian Christians. The idea was to spread the one-minute video across the web to raise prayer and support for Christians during the current crackdown. 

Iran has carried out arrests in several cities, including that of Shahin Zanboori, who was seized as he was sharing his faith. Secret police broke his arm and leg under interrogation. Shahin says they hanged him from the ceiling and beat the soles of his feet to force him to confess and name other Christians. 

Shahin Zanboori is expected to be charged with spying. Two other Christians died in July after being badly beaten in a police raid.

Release International is helping Iranian Christians in practical ways. ‘Release is giving financial support to church leaders who’ve lost their jobs. Through our partners we’re running training conferences, providing outreach materials, and are helping a special ministry to women, who are hugely disadvantaged in Iranian society,’ says Release CEO Andy Dipper.

‘But their need is great and we need to do more, so we’ve launched the Iranian appeal. Please help us to help our brothers and sisters in Iran - and to stand with them in this time of trial.’

You can make a secure online donation at: www.releaseinternational.org/pages/donation.php or send a cheque payable to Release International by post to: Release International, PO Box 54, Orpington BR5 9RT (please quote Release International Iran appeal). If you prefer to telephone, please call our Supporter Relations Team on 01689 823491.

Release is calling for prayer - and for action:

·        Pray that international pressure will be brought to bear on Iran where hardliners such as President Ahmadinejad are gaining influence.

·        Write a polite letter underlining your hope that Iran will uphold all citizens’ freedom of religion. Write to: His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Or to: His Excellency Mr Rasoul Movahedian, Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 16 Prince’s Gate, London SW7 1PT.  

ENDS 

NOTES TO THE EDITOR 

Release is supporting Christians in Iran by: 

Providing emergency relief

We provide financial aid to Christians who have been turned out of their homes because they have changed their faith. 

Supporting leaders

We provide financial assistance to a small number of church leaders who have lost their jobs, so they can continue their ministries, such as leading house churches, in their home town. 

Leadership training

We support the training of leaders and run training programmes. More than a hundred leaders have been trained over the last few years. 

Women's ministry

We have a special ministry to women, who are hugely disadvantaged in Iranian society. We help them to receive Bible teaching, encouragement, and teaching on family values and children's ministry. 

Supporting outreach projects

We supply copies of the Jesus film, evangelistic and teaching CDs, New Testaments, Bibles and evangelical Christian literature in Farsi, which is the main language in Iran. 

Satellite TV broadcasting

We have supported our partners in broadcasting Christian evangelistic and teaching programmes into Iran. Many people have written to ask for literature, and have indicated that they have become Christians as a result of these programmes. 

Background briefing:

The Iranian parliament has given its overwhelming approval to a new penal code, which includes the ‘apostasy bill’. The motion was carried on September 9 by a vote of 196 to seven. The code is still being reviewed by parliament and will then need to be approved by Iran’s Guardian Council – a body of 12 conservative theologians and jurists. The Council is not expected to veto parliament’s decision.

Commentators now believe the only hope of derailing the bill is international pressure. There is a precedent for this: in 2005 Christian Hamid Pourmand, a former army colonel, was acquitted of apostasy following international lobbying on his behalf.

On September 26 the EU issued a declaration urging the Iranian Government to reconsider the draft bill on apostasy. Shortly afterwards two Christians who had been changed with apostasy were released.

Those who offend Sharia law may be publicly flogged or even executed by hanging in the streets. Seventy-one people were hanged in July alone.

Iranian Christians in particular are under constant pressure from the police and the agents who monitor adherence to Islamic correctness. Under Iran's Islamic laws, Muslims who convert from Islam to another religion can be sentenced to execution at the judge's discretion.

Although the death penalty is usually commuted to a lengthy prison sentence, at least two converts to Christ have been publicly put to death by the state while many more have been clandestinely killed. And the draft law now before the parliament would make conversion to Christ a mandatory death penalty offence.

Many Iranian Muslims who become Christian believers join house churches which meet in secret. As in other repressive societies, despite the pressures on national Christians, the house church movement is growing.

Pressure on house churches inside Iran is intensifying. On July 17, a police squad raided a house church near one of the larger cities, and arrested eight men, six women and two teenagers, beating them all as they did so. One man, in his 60s, died from his injuries later that month in hospital. His wife died five days later from similar injuries and stress-related causes, reports FCNN (Farsi Christian News Network).

Since the Iranian revolution, hundreds of Christians from Muslim backgrounds have faced interrogation and arrest.

Though Christians are in a tiny minority in Iran – most sources say less than half of one per cent – the underground church is growing rapidly. The Iranian church traces its roots back 500 years before Islam – to the day of Pentecost.

Despite increasing pressure on those who attend house churches, the calls for literature, training and support are increasing.

For background on Ramtin Soodmand’s case, please go to www.fcnn.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1867&Itemid=63 

For more stories of individual Christians under pressure in Iran, please go to www.releaseinternational.org/pages/donate/iran-appeal.php 

For a country profile on Iran, please go to: www.releaseinternational.org/pages/country-profiles/iran.php 

For further information please contact Andrew Boyd on 01730 301905 or 07986 712 813, or contact Release International on 01689 823491 or by email at info@releaseinternational.org  

For more information on Release International please go to: www.releaseinternational.org

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