Iran

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian pastor who was nearly executed for abandoning Islam and three other believers have received 10 years imprisonment each for “acting against national security” as part of a government crackdown on Christian converts in Iran, their supporters told BosNewsLife.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Iran have appealed for prayers after missionaries, pastors and other devoted Christians received long prison terms and faced lashes as part of a government effort to halt the spread of Christianity in the Islamic nation, trial observers and activists told BosNewsLife.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians urged prayers for Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz and fellow believer Amin Nader Afshar who were said to have been summoned to a court hearing on Sunday, May 21, more than two years after they were detained during a Christian celebration at the pastor's home.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians have expressed concern about detained Christians who spent Easter behind bars amid including two Christian converts who were tried on charge of organizing house churches after eight months of uncertainty.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians are concerned about Maryam Naghash Zargaran after she was reportedly denied urgent medical treatment and fellow believer Ebrahim Firouzi who was told by an Iranian court that his five-year sentence has been upheld. The two Christians both converted from Islam, a move that can be punishable by prison and even death under Iranian law.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians have urged prayers for three Christian converts in the coastal city of Rasht who have appealed against a sentence of 80 lashes for drinking wine at a communion service and two fellow believers in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison who are threatening to go on hunger strike, well-informed Christians told BosNewsLife.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BAGHDAD/TEHRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Despite a mass exodus of Christians, "the church" is far from empty in Syria, Iraq, Jordan and other parts of the Middle East as thousands of Muslims turn to faith in Jesus Christ including through radio broadcasts, a Christian group said Thursday January 5.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A group of 19 influential human rights groups have urged the United Nations and the international community to help protect Christian converts in Iran saying scores of believers were detained for leaving Islam. In a statement to BosNewsLife the activists said that the "Islamic Republic of Iran" has been "homing in on converts from a Muslim background".

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN/ANKARA (BosNewsLife)-- Behnam Irani, one of Iran's leading evangelical pastors, has been reunited with his family after spending six years in an Iranian prison on charges linked to his Christian activities, a spokesman told BosNewsLife.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian pastor Behnam Irani has been released from prison after serving some six years behind bars for charges linked to his Christian activities, friends with close knowledge about the situation told BosNewsLife Tuesday, October 18.