Iran

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife KARAJ, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An evangelical pastor who has been jailed in Iran for his Christian activities says he has been told by a court to remain behind bars because he "did not change". Speaking to BosNewsLife through an interpreter, Pastor Behnam Irani made clear he remained faithful to Christ, despite court pressure to return to Islam.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran has released two devoted Christians from one of Tehran's most notorious prisons amid mounting pressure on the country's recently elected president to make good on his promises to respect minority rights, rights activists said.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's Islamic leadership has launched a public campaign to halt the rapid spread of Christianity among Iranians, BosNewsLife learned Monday, September 2.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christian rights activists say they are alarmed by a reported new government crackdown on devoted Christians in Iran under the recently elected President Hassan Rouhani.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian court has sentenced a young evangelical Christian to one year imprisonment and two years exile to a remote border town for his involvement in evangelism and house churches, Iranian Christians told BosNewsLife Tuesday, August 20.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- There was mounting concern Sunday, August 18, over the health situation of an Iranian-born American pastor and another evangelical leader who were among those sentenced to long prison terms in Tehran on charges that friends link to their Christian faith.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian authorities detained and mistreated three Christian converts amid a wider crackdown on what the country's Islamic leadership calls "evangelical and extremist" Christians, activists said Saturday, August 10.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with additional reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian Christian convert has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on what his supporters say are false charges linked to his evangelical church activities, local activist said Tuesday, August 6.  Mohammad-Hadi (Mostafa) Bordbar, a 27-year-old resident of the city of Rasht, was "tried by Judge Pir-Abbasi on the morning of June 9, 2013 in branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran," amid a wider government crackdown on spreading Christianity in Iran said Mohabat News, an agency of Iranian Christian and activists.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Eight members of Iran's largest evangelical house church movement have been sentenced to years imprisonment on charges that include "“action against the national security” and “propaganda against the order of the system,” Christian rights activists confirmed late Thursday, July 18.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- The pastor of Iran's largest Persian speaking Pentecostal church has been "conditionally released" from prison but his congregation in the capital Tehran remains closed, Iranian Christians told BosNewsLife Thursday, July 4.