Christians Living in the Shadow of Regime Oppression

The lives of Christians living in the shadow of regime oppression are facing increasing hardships each day compared to the past.

Christians born into Muslim families who have subsequently embraced Christianity after recognizing the truth have unfortunately become targets of policies and oppressive and discriminatory measures by the Iranian government and clergy.

Not only are they deprived of conducting worship ceremonies to the true God in their native language, but in many cases after being identified, they face arrest, harassment and torture, confiscation of their property without compensation, and in some cases even suspicious deaths.

Many of them have also been attacked by regime agents for participating in house church services and have been arrested and sent to prison on fabricated charges including acts against national security. In some cases they have been threatened and forced to renounce Christianity.

Since the beginning of the protests, more Christians have faced threats and even death. Not only are they deprived of the right to have a lawyer during detention, but in many cases they have also been deprived of education. This occurs while if someone from followers of other religions converts to Islam, not only does it have no consequences but they are strongly protected. However, a Muslim who converts to another religion—with most converting to Christianity and the true God—are accused of apostasy, for which, according to Shiite Imam traditions, the punishment for apostates is death.

It should be noted that according to statements made by Ali Khamenei in recent years regarding a Muslim-born individual who converts to one of the Abrahamic religions and follows it, they will be considered apostates. Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has also issued an apostasy ruling regarding these individuals.

Christians who have comprised the largest number of arrests in recent months face unjust rulings in addition to apostasy charges, such as insults to sacred values, acts against national security, collusion with enemies, and the like. However, Christians, trusting in the true God, have not abandoned their faith; rather their numbers increase daily, which has caused fear in the regime and its agents, as they believe this will lead to the downfall of Islam, and the downfall of Islam will bring about the downfall of the regime’s rule.