Fifteen security police and undercover plain-clothes officers attacked a Christmas gathering of more than 70 newly converted Christians in the city of Karaj, Iran on December 17. Officers photographed and videotaped the believers and also confiscated Bibles, Christian books and a computer. The Christians were told they must be available during the period leading up to formal and legal interrogations and that they must appear before legal prosecutors when ordered. Two of the leaders of the group, Kambiz Saghaee and Ali Keshvar-Doost, were arrested. At last report, they remained in detention at an undisclosed location and their families had neither been able to contact them nor received confirmed information from police about their whereabouts. (Source: Farsi Christian News Network)
Pray for the release of Kambiz Saghaee and Ali Keshvar-Doost. Pray that the new converts who attended this meeting will grow stronger in their faith in Christ. Pray for safety for Iranian believers celebrating the birth of Jesus as many must gather in secret to avoid attention from authorities.
For more information on the plight of Iranian Christians, go to the Iran Country Report.
Current Ministry Fund
By funding television broadcasts, VOMC is making it possible for a vast audience of viewers to be reached throughout Iran with the "Good News" of Jesus' love via satellite.
Ethnicity Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Arab, Turkmen and Turkic tribes
Religion (%) Islam (98.5), Christian (0.7), Baha'i (0.3), agnostic (0.3), other (0.2)
Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei (1989)
Government type Theocratic republic
Legal system Religious legal system based on secular and Islamic law
Source: CIA World Factbook
Pray for Iran
As the Gospel message goes forth over the airwaves, may the growth of the church continue to multiply despite persecution. Pray that the Iranian government will be open to change, allowing full rights and protection for its non-Muslim citizens as well. In the meantime, may those who are forced to flee the country find safe refuge and help so they can live in peace and worship the Lord with freedom.
Left to right: Abbas Soori, Narges Nasri, and Mehran Shamloui. Photos: Article 18
On March 8th, three Christian converts in Iran, including a woman pregnant with her first child, were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for participating in activities relating to their religious beliefs. (More details about the charges against these believers are available at VOMC's previously published report.)
In 2017, Pastor Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh was sentenced to ten years in prison for his Christian ministry activities. Though pardoned and released in 2022, the pastor was suddenly rearrested on February 6th of this year. (Read more.)
Amir-Ali Minaei has been held in Tehran's Evin Prison since April 2024. The Christian man is presently serving a 43-month term for "propaganda activities against the regime through establishing a house church."
Left to right: Abbas Soori, Narges Nasri, and Mehran Shamloui. Photos: Article 18
Three Christian converts, including a woman who is pregnant with her first child, have been sentenced to lengthy prison sentences on charges relating to their religious beliefs and worship meetings. The Iranian believers were sentenced by Judge Iman Afshari at a Revolutionary Court on March 8th.