The Status and Fate of Christians in Iran
Christians in Iran face an inadequate situation and an uncertain fate.
Although Iran’s constitution recognizes Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians as religious minorities and states that these minorities are free to conduct their religious ceremonies within the bounds of the law, Iranian authorities continue to severely suppress the right to freedom of religion and belief, subjecting Iranian Christians, particularly those not officially recognized by the regime, to arbitrary detention, grossly unfair trials, lengthy imprisonment, denial of legal representation, torture, mistreatment of prisoners of conscience, and other forms of harassment.
In addition to the above, officially recognized churches and house churches are tightly controlled, and openly insulting remarks toward Christians are made with the approval of violent actions by security organizations against them. We have also witnessed on numerous occasions the forced closure of Christian-owned businesses, confiscation of their properties, and bans on their employment in government institutions, all of which constitute violations of religious freedom.
The recognition of the aforementioned minorities occurs while the Islamic Republic government in recent years, particularly in the past few years, has not only refused to recognize a significant portion of Persian-speaking Christians, but has also attempted to portray them as separate from the universal church, as a sect, and as dependent on hostile states. Furthermore, although Iran is a signatory to the international covenant on freedom of religion and belief, it has subjected many religious minorities to judicial sentences, imprisonment, torture, harassment, and even death due to their beliefs and convictions.
Many churches that held official operating permits have been shut down by the government due to providing services in Persian, and in many cases such churches have been confiscated. In recent months, we have even witnessed the auctioning of an old confiscated church in the northern part of the country.
It should be noted that the closure of these churches has led to the formation of house churches, both among minorities and among new converts to Christianity from other religions. However, the security institutions of the Islamic Republic government have also attacked house churches, arrested individuals, confiscated their personal belongings including laptops, mobile phones, books, and other items, and subsequently imprisoned them and opened judicial cases against them.
From the perspective of the Islamic Republic government, worshipping the true God in one’s native language is considered a crime and constitutes apostasy according to Islam, the punishment for which is execution.
