Meeting to Review Open Doors Annual Report on Persecuted Christians

The Open Doors organization held a meeting to review new analyses and findings regarding the persecution of Christians, with a focus on Iran and other countries.

The specialized meeting held on Tuesday, January 27, corresponding to February 7, with the presence of several European Parliament representatives, was devoted to reviewing the latest annual report by the international organization Open Doors on the situation of Christians around the world. This session, accompanied by data presentations, analyses, and personal testimonies, once again demonstrated that pressures and repression against followers of Christianity in many countries, particularly in Iran and several other nations, remain serious and increasing.

Based on the latest reports published by Open Doors, between 380 to 388 million Christians worldwide faced various levels of discrimination, repression, and persecution in the past year, a figure that represents a significant increase compared to the previous year and shows that approximately 1 in every 7 Christians globally faces “extremely high” persecution.

• Rising Violence: The number of Christians killed due to their faith in the past year reached approximately 4,849 people, with an average of about 13 people losing their lives daily for their Christian faith.
• Global Scope: The number of countries with “extreme” levels of persecution against Christians has increased from 13 to 15 countries.
• Distant Data: These statistics are based on surveys whose research period was from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, and may not fully reflect the impact of recent events in Iran and the region.

The report shows that persecution of Christians is not limited to physical violence but extends to legal discrimination, social pressure, and deprivation of civil freedoms in various aspects of private, family, and social life.

The latest World Watch List has published countries with the highest levels of persecution against Christians, among which North Korea, Somalia, and Yemen are recognized as the most severe cases. Iran is also ranked among the top ten countries globally on this list for 2025, a position that reflects the dire situation of Christians in this country.

Supplementary reports and reliable sources show that:

• There are over 800,000 Christians in Iran, the majority of whom are converts from a Muslim background and face severe pressures.
• Leaving Islam and converting to Christianity is considered a crime, and individuals on this path face harassment, detention, imprisonment, pressure to provide information, and torture.
• Many house churches are inspected and raided by security agencies, and the imposition of sanctions and judicial pressures against them is widespread.
• Human rights organizations have reported that the rate of arrests and prosecution of Christian citizens has increased in recent years.

Some human rights observers, such as the UN Special Rapporteur, have emphasized: “Christian worshippers in Iran are continuously subjected to torture and persecution.”

At the European Parliament meeting, in addition to discussing the data, representatives warned of increasing injustice and pressure against Christians.

• Representatives of Open Doors and experts such as “Peter Paulsson,” Executive Director of the Sweden office, analyzed the findings of the new report and warned of increasing pressure in some countries.
• Two Christians from leading countries on the list, such as Yemen and Nigeria, shared their painful personal accounts of discrimination, threats, and family separation with European representatives.
• “Bart-Jan Rusen,” a European Parliament representative, while emphasizing the importance of hearing victims’ stories, said: “Today we have two choices before us: either we remain indifferent and continue our daily lives, or we listen to the painful accounts of victims and ask ourselves what we can do.”

In the question and answer section, a representative of the “Article 18” organization, referring to the International Holocaust Memorial Day and the words of resistance theologian “Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself a form of evil” and emphasized that we should not remain silent about what is happening in Iran.

During this meeting, the issue of the situation of Iranian refugees was also raised, including how to prevent the rejection of their asylum cases in some countries. No clear and practical answer was provided in this regard, but the issue demonstrates the complexity and sensitivity of the overall situation regarding the migration of religious minorities.

The annual Open Doors report and the review meeting in the European Parliament present a real and shocking picture of the situation of persecuted Christians worldwide:

• A dramatic increase in persecution and violence against Christians with a record of over 380 million people under pressure.
• The Islamic Republic of Iran remains one of the countries where Christians face serious persecution and discrimination.
• Personal accounts of victims show that this issue goes beyond statistics and figures, representing a human and painful reality that requires a serious response from the international community.