Violations of Christian rights in Iran and arrests double compared to last year

Four Christian organizations presented their annual report on the violations of the rights of Christians in Iran.

Four organizations (Open Doors, CSW, MEC) and the human rights organization "Article 18" published the fifth annual report on the situation of Christians in Iran, stating that contrary to the claims of the Islamic Republic, there is no religious freedom in Iran.

This report was published on February 19, coinciding with the 44th anniversary of the murder of Priest Aristotle Sayah, the first priest to be killed by the Islamic Republic for his religious beliefs eight days after the victory of the revolution.

One of the paragraphs of this report mentions that Christianity is one of the religions recognized in the constitution of the Islamic Republic, including Armenian and Assyrian Christians, and converts whose religion is not recognized by the Islamic Republic, are still systematically deprived of performing their religious rituals, which indicates a violation of the international covenant on civil and political rights that the Islamic Republic had signed in the past.

The report also emphasizes that practicing religious rituals other than Shiite is a threat to the Islamic Republic. A number of Christians have even been sentenced to ten years in prison for holding religious ceremonies in house churches.

According to the report of the four mentioned institutions, the arrests of Christians in Iran have not only not decreased compared to 2021, but have doubled, from 59 people in 2021 to 134 people in 2022. This is while, during the recent nationwide protests in Iran, a number of Christians were also accused and imprisoned of acting against national security and propagandizing against the regime.

Also, according to reports from the Open Doors organization, one in seven Christians has faced hatred and persecution, and last year, about 4,500 Christians were imprisoned in anti-Christian countries, 80 of whom were in Iran.

According to reports from these four Christian organizations this year, Iran was ranked the eighth most anti-Christian country in the world. The organization's concerns have increased with the coming to power of Ebrahim Raisi as head of state and changes to some articles of the Islamic Penal Code, as it had previously warned of a worsening situation for Christians in Iran.