Iranian Churches Continue Their Ministry, Despite Fears

Saturday, 22 September 2012

In a recent report, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, Ahmad Shaheed, said 300 Christians have been arrested in the past two years.

Mohabat News – according to a report by Reuters, on Thursday, September 20, a group of United Nations investigators announced three hundred Iranian Christians have been arrested in the past two years alone.

The report said, churches continue their ministry in a climate of fear and Christian converts are prosecuted and harassed.

Welcoming Nadarkhani's release, Ahmad Shaheed and Heiner Bielefeldt, U.N. Special Rapporteurs, called on Islamic Republic officials "to calm the situation for churches, especially house churches and allow them to carry out their activities."

In this report they also pleaded with Iranian officials to observe the rights of other religious minorities, including Baha'is and Dervishes.

Based on his contacts, interviews and documents, Mr. Shaheed said, "Since 2010, three hundred Christians have been arrested and imprisoned arbitrarily".

Mr. Shaheed stressed that these arrests have occurred while the Iranian constitution recognizes Christianity and the right of Christians to practice their faith. Iran has also signed international conventions that require signatory countries to honor the rights of religious minorities.

The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran stated that 41 arrested Christians had remained in prison from one month to more than a year [before being released] and many more are still being held in custody.

He added that churches are pressured to send a list of their congregation to authorities.

Heiner Bielefeldt, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion, also said, "Christians' right to freedom of religion was protected under Iranian law and should be granted in practice."

- Iranians' growing tendency towards Christianity

An increasing number of Iranians are deciding to embrace Christianity and the Islamic regime of Iran, on the other hand, is increasing its pressure on Christians, especially Christians with Islamic backgrounds accordingly. The Islamic regime, through its intelligence services, tries to stop the growth of house churches in Iran by any means. The Islamic regime considers house churches as a religious threat and cannot tolerate Iranian youth eagerly becoming Christians in large numbers.

On the other hand, the Islamic regime of Iran takes advantage of every opportunity to arbitrarily accuse Christian converts of charges like "threatening national security" and "actions against the regime".

It is worth noting that harassment and discrimination of religious minorities has always been a matter of violation of Human Rights in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In his first report, Mr. Ahmad Shaheed addressed this issue. In one part of the report, he mentioned that recognized religious minorities in Iran, meaning Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, are facing serious restrictions regarding their rights and are subjected to numerous limitations of religious freedom.