Middle East

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's largest evangelical house church movement urged Christians around the world on Monday, March 25, not to forget a jailed human rights lawyer who defended its believers and others the authorities didn't like.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian authorities have released on bail three members of the evangelical Church of Iran who were detained on charges linked to their Christian activities, BosNewsLife learned Wednesday, March 20.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian court has told five jailed members of the evangelical Church of Iran movement that they can be released temporarily if they pay what trial observers call "exorbitant bail terms" of up to $200,000. The ruling comes while two Iranian converts reportedly face imminent deportation from Sweden, despite fears they may be executed as "apostates" in their home country.

(ADDS COMMENTS FROM CANNON WHITE) By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)- The Church of Iran, one of the country's largest house church movements, strongly denies "false reports" that its Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been executed but says it is concerned for his safety.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Five members of Iran's largest house church movement face a court after nearly five months behind bars, a representative told BosNewsLife Thursday, March 7.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Two Christian converts are already over 50 days in Tehran's feared Evin prison as part of a crackdown on spreading Christianity in heavily Islamic Iran and it remains unclear when they will be released, BosNewsLife learned Monday, March 4.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An American pastor who is held in one of Iran's most notorious prisons on charges linked to his Christian faith says authorities use physical and psychological torture to pressure him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ."My eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky,” Pastor Saeed Abedini wrote in a letter smuggled out of Evin Prison in Tehran.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Egyptian Christians and rights activists expressed frustration Tuesday, February 19, about spreading anti-Christian violence in Egypt after another Coptic church was destroyed by a Muslim mob in an attack that slightly injured several believers.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (BosNewsLife)-- Dozens of Ethiopian Christians, mostly women, have been detained in Saudi Arabia after attending a worship service in a private home, BosNewsLife learned Wednesday, February 13.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Rights activists have condemned the sentencing of two Coptic Christians to three years imprisonment for "seizing" a soldier's rifle during a deadly October 2011 crackdown on Coptic protesters in Egypt.