Resumption of Widespread Arrests of Christian Citizens in Various Cities
Widespread arrests of Christian citizens in various Iranian cities resumed on the third of Tir month and continue to this day.
The widespread arrests of Christian citizens began one day after the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Republic, on the third of Tir month. According to published reports, since that date, 54 Christian citizens have been arrested and subjected to interrogation.
Some of them faced allegations during interrogation that were included in a recent resolution by the Iranian Parliament. The title of this resolution is “Intensifying Punishment for Spies and Collaborators with the Zionist Regime and Hostile Countries.” Legal experts have described this law as a “major catastrophe” for Iran’s legal and judicial system due to its numerous ambiguities and lack of transparency.
Between June 21 and July 3 of the current year, arrests of Christians took place in the cities of Kerman, Kermanshah, Bushehr, Rasht, Lahijan, Amol, Urmia, Shiraz, Mashhad, Tehran, Hamadan, Garmsar, Isfahan, Miandoab, Karaj, Varamin, and Takestan. In addition to these arrests, many other Christians and former political and ideological prisoners awaiting verdicts from revolutionary courts have received threatening calls from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In these calls, besides threats and intimidation of citizens, they were asked about their opinion on recent events and the war with Israel. These questions and threats to Christian citizens occurred despite the fact that according to the Islamic Republic’s constitution, the interrogation of beliefs is prohibited. However, Christians have been questioned and threatened even in court due to their faith and beliefs.
Following the escalation of military clashes between Israel and Iran and after the ceasefire, concerns about the situation of political and ideological prisoners have also increased. Some political and ideological prisoners in Evin Prison, during the military attack on the prison, sent a letter to the head of the judiciary requesting temporary release on bail or with a guarantor. They warned in this letter that Evin Prison has no shelter and urged the release of prisoners; however, their request was rejected by security and judicial officials. It should be noted that at the time of the military attack on Evin Prison, at least eleven Christian citizens were imprisoned there.
Amnesty International, while expressing concern about these arrests and prisoners, published a statement on July 31 stating: “Prisons and detention centers are not considered military targets under international law. There is no credible evidence showing that Evin Prison has been converted into a military target. Deliberate attacks on such places constitute ‘war crimes’.”
According to reports published by Christian organizations, over 94 Christian citizens have been arrested throughout Iran since the beginning of the current year. The homes of many of them have been searched by officers of the Ministry of Intelligence and Revolutionary Guard Intelligence officers, and while creating fear and terrorizing them and insulting them, they have confiscated personal property including Persian-language Bibles and other Christian books. In many cases, possessing a Persian-language Bible has been used as evidence of a crime against these citizens.
Officials of the Islamic Republic and its affiliated agents, through arresting Christian citizens, particularly those who have converted from Islam to Christianity, have increased incitement against them and use the term “Zionist” to describe them. Without presenting any documentary evidence, regime officials consider Persian-speaking Christians and Armenian and Assyrian Christians who are in contact with Persian speakers as “Zionist Christianity.”
In a propaganda message released by the regime, it was written: “After the Evin Prison incident, the Zionist organization Article 18 became concerned about the food and medical conditions of imprisoned evangelists who are living in complete security and safety. This organization, by creating a crisis, requested long-term leave for Christian prisoners, while no damage was inflicted on their place of detention!”
In other hate-filled messages through which the regime attempts to spread incitement against Christianity, it has been stated that Christianity is a historical threat to Islam. In one of these messages, “Ahmad Almahdavi,” the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, while referring to the fall of Andalusia, said: “The fall of Andalusia was the result of a cultural sedition of Christianity that was accompanied by corruption and the collapse of the Islamic family.”
The “Rahpooyan-e Hedayat” website, which claims its activities are based on Ali Khamenei’s statements against house churches, has claimed that their main goal is “focusing on the activities of the Zionist Christianity movement for awareness and combating it.” This website also published an article on June 28 of the current year titled “Inciting Evangelical Christianity Movement to Barbaric Attacks by the Cursed Regime Against the Iranian Nation,” writing: “The Persian-speaking evangelical Christianity movement, in these historical circumstances, by drawing from opposing and subversive movements, constantly tries to create a false duality between the people and the Islamic Republic system.”
In fact, the Islamic Republic regime claims that churches, whether in Iran or in neighboring countries, are operating with the aim of “cultural infiltration and soft overthrow,” which should be placed under strict surveillance by security agencies. The “Article 18” organization writes about this: “The regime’s claim about cultural infiltration and soft overthrow by Christians is made while Christianity is not only, contrary to government propaganda, an imported religion from the West, but has been present in Iran since the Parthian period, and during the Sassanid era, Iranian missionaries even traveled to China and India.”
