Middle East

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christians were urged Saturday, September 24, to "fast and pray" for an Iranian pastor as an Iranian court was to "re-examine" within hours whether he should be hanged for converting from Islam to Christianity.  

By BosNewsLife News Center NEW YORK, UNITED NATIONS (BosNewsLife)-- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially asked the United Nations on Friday, September 23, to recognize Palestine as an independent state, despite fierce resistance from the United States and Israel.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian court that earlier sentenced evangelical pastor Youcef Nadarkhani to death for "apostasy", or abandoning Islam, will "re-examine" his case later this month, a mission group with close knowledge about the case confirmed to BosNewsLife, Wednesday, September 15.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Saturday, September 10, that a massive attack on the Israeli embassy in Egypt's capital Cairo could undermine peace between the two neighboring states.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran on Tuesday, September 6, ordered five Iranian Christians, including a heavily pregnant woman, to report to prison on charges linked to their Christian activities, a mission group working in the region said.  

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- The pastor of a major evangelical house church network in Iran was free Friday, September 2, after a family member guaranteed the required bail money of 30,000 dollars, Christians with close knowledge about the case said.  

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran has released a Dutch-Iranian pastor who was jailed for 359 days on charges of spreading Christianity among Farsi-speaking Iranians and relations with foreign organizations, well-informed Iranian Christians said Wednesday, August 31.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- The whereabouts of an evangelical pastor in Iran remained unknown Saturday, August 27, some 10 days after he was detained by Iranian security forces as part of a reported government crackdown on Christian converts, BosNewsLife established.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by VOA News' Scott Bobb in Jerusalem JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife/VOA News)-- Israeli aircraft hit Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip late Thursday, August 19, killing six people, in retaliation for deadly attacks against Israelis earlier in the day.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian authorities seized thousands of Bibles in north-west Iran and destroyed a church in the Islamic country's south-east as part of a wider crackdown on Christianity, Iranian Christians said in messages monitored by BosNewsLife Tuesday, August 16.