Iran

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran released four Christian prisoners but concerns remained Friday, December 11, about Christian pastor Fardhid Fathi who was to have been freed after five years behind bars, Christian aid workers told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife News Center TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi who reported for Vatican Radio and other international media has been jailed for eight years on charges of spying for the United States her lawyer said Saturday, April 18.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN/BRUSSELS (BosNewsLife)-- The European Union has urged Iran to release evangelical Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani who is facing the death penalty for refusing to recant his faith in Christ and return to Islam, a key European legislator told BosNewsLife.  

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's government has ordered one of the country's largest Protestant churches to halt Friday services, while a pastor remains detained for protesting plans to "impose the reading of the Koran" on Christian children, BosNewsLife monitored Monday, November 9.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian court forced a Christian convert with a Muslim background to sign a confession that she is "mentally unstable" and placed her under three months of house arrest in the city of Mashhad, 850 kilometers (530 miles) east of the capital Tehran, trial observers said.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- There is concern about a jailed Iranian-American pastor amid reports he has been mistreated and placed in solitary confinement in one of Iran's most notorious prisons.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Jailed Iranian pastor Behnam Irani, who potentially faces the death penalty for "apostasy", or abandoning Islam, suffers of "various medical problems" in part because of prison mistreatment, an official assisting him with advocacy told BosNewsLife Friday, September 28.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Two young women who converted from Islam to Christianity may face execution or at least life imprisonment after an Iranian court officially charged them with "apostasy" and "propagation of the Christian faith", trial observers and Iranian Christians confirmed Thursday, October 8.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Amid international pressure, Iran has acquitted "on all charges" two young women who were detained fourteen months ago "for their Christian faith and activities" and abandoning Islam, Iranian church officials confirmed Sunday, May 23.

By BosNewsLife Correspondents Stefan J. Bos and Eric Leijenaar TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Members of Iran's Christian minority requested prayers Tuesday, January 27, amid reports of massive arrests of Christians, including many former Muslims, rights investigators said.