BUSHEHR, Iran — An Iranian court has sentenced 12 Christians to one year in prison for holding worship meetings, evangelizing and inviting others to accept Christ as their Savior.
The Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News reported that Payam Kharaman and 11 other Christians, who were arrested in Bushehr in April 2015, were sentenced for the crime of promoting what the Iranian authorities call Zionist propaganda that goes against the Islamic Republic’s Shia Muslim-controlled system. The Jerusalem Post reported that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized Iran for its sweeping violent crackdown on Christians, specifically for the convictions and sentences of those “targeted solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedoms of religion and belief, expression and association, through their Christian faith.”
Iran is 10th on Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List. Open Doors estimates that as many as 800,000 Christians are living in Iran, almost double the number estimated in 2016. The U.S. State Department lists Iran as a “country of particular” concern for ongoing, systemic and egregious violations of religious freedom. (TAB)
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