Abdol-Rahman Mohammad Pouri is one of a thousand Iranian youth who was born and brought up in a strict Islamic family but chose not to follow his parent’s religion and converted to Christianity by following his heart and personal investigation.

Abdol-Rahman spoke about people who choose to become Christians in Iran’s traditional society with all the security conditions. “We couldn’t express our faith among other people or attend church freely. And because of the difficulties we faced about going to a church, I decided to devote my rental house to the Lord to be used as a house church.”

Participation in the house church attracted the attention of the security authorities who threatened and raided the house church and prevented them from worshiping. In addition, some of the house church leaders were also identified by the security authorities.

Abdol-Rahman, 29 is currently seeking asylum in the neighboring country of Turkey.

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Beatings and solitary confinement are two of the tools being used by Iranian officials to pressure a Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani condemned for blasphemy to recant his faith, according to reports.

Nadarkhani was sentenced to death after a Rasht, Iran, court declared him guilty of “leaving Islam,” in spite of the fact that Nadarkhani says he was never a Muslim.

Journalist Jack Minor points out that Islam teaches that everyone on earth is born a Muslim. “On page 28, in the introduction of a copy of the Quran, the translator, M.H. Shakir in the section ‘Islam and Muslims’ states, ‘In fact, every child that is born is a Muslim. It is the parents who make him a Jew, Christian or Hindu,’” Minor said.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s verdict was expected last month after he appeared in court and refused to renounce his Christian faith. However, no verdict was given. The court recently said that it will announce a verdict by mid-December. Full Story

Imprisoned Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, originally sentenced to death for apostasy and refusing to renounce Christianity, is now in even greater danger of being put to death in light of reports in state-run media of other charges, including being a Zionist and a threat to national security. “The charge of being a Zionist and thus a traitor is among the most serious accusations that can be made in Iran,” said Jordan Sekulow. “Unfortunately, we know that this is the charge Iran levies to justify executing people who were actually arrested, imprisoned and tried on completely different charges.” In a ruling from the Iranian Supreme Court, Nadarkhani was sentenced to execution by hanging for breaking Islamic law by conducting Christian worship and baptizing himself and others. His appeals trial began last month in Gilan Province and he refused to renounce his religion, according to rights groups monitoring the trial. Full Story

Farshid Fathi is one of the new believers from Tehran, who is still in the 209 section of notorious Evin prison held without any charge. Farshid was arrested on December 26, 2010 by intelligence agents in Tehran. Security agents said believers where under arrest for apostasy, promoting Christianity and having contact with foreign Christian organizations. Farshid Fathi who was in solitary confinement for months was informed few days before Persian New Year that he can be freed for $200.000 bail. His family provided the bail with a lot of struggle and gave it to the prison officials, but when Farshid was almost ready to get out of prison and join his family at the door, the chief interrogator from the sixth branch of public prosecutor’s office Mr. Naseri ordered him to go back for further interrogations just for physiological torture of him and his family. Farshid Fathi is 32 years old and has a 7 year old daughter and 2 and half year old son. Full Story

It is with a heavy heart that we share that a young believer has died in Iran after he had been severely beaten by a relative who objected to his strong faith in Christ. He leaves behind a wife and two young children. According to Christian friends, he was a courageous believer who demonstrated a wonderful and contagious faith in Jesus. Though it has been unbearably hard, the church is determined to continue serving the Lord. They told the pastor, “We will continue to come to the church meetings. We will stand with you.” For the security of his family and other believers, we cannot share more details. Please pray, however, for the wife and children, the house church he leaves behind, and for his example to bring more people to Christ. A church leader in Iran commented, “These days we are seeing many wonderful things happen in Iran. At the same time we are under attack. It is getting intense and we need continued intercession.”  ELAM News

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani in Iran received notification that he will be executed on charges of “apostasy” – conversion from Islam to Christianity – and is now awaiting the court’s final verdict. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, a church leader in Rasht, Iran, was arrested on October 13, 2009 for questioning the Islamic education practice of Christian students – including his own children – to be required to read the Quran in school. His execution, initially scheduled for October 24th, was postponed to an unknown date by security forces in hopes that Youcef will renounce Christ and return to Islam. In a letter to the international Christian community, Pastor Youcef took courage and consoled believers around the world: “What we are bearing today, is a difficult but not unbearable situation, because He has not tested us more than our faith can endure… We must consider these bumps and prisons as opportunities to testify to His name.” Full Story Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Full Letter

Neshan Saeedi, a 27-year-old Christian, has not been seen since his arrest by government authorities in July. On July 24, Saeedi was at home with his wife and young daughter in the city of Ahvaz, Iran, when plainclothes security officers entered his house and arrested the family. Security officers searched the home and seized personal belongings, including a computer, CDs containing films of Christian seminars and teachings, Christian books, Bibles and family photo albums. The family was taken to the Chaharshir detention center in Ahvaz, where they were interrogated for several hours before Saeedi’s wife and daughter were released. Officers threatened Saeedi’s wife, saying if the family continued its Christian activities their daughter might be taken away. The family was accused of threatening Iran’s national security by participating in anti-government activities. Full Story

On Thursday July 18th, a bus carrying 15 newly-converted Christians was intercepted by government security forces in Iran. The group were on their way to the provincial town of Bojnoord to spend time with fellow believers there, when their bus was forced to stop in the city of Mashhad, the capital of the north-eastern province of Khorasan. Sources suggest that the security forces had prior knowledge of the trip, as their efforts to stop and board the bus and arrest all those present seemed well coordinated.

The Christians were all transferred to a central detention center, where they were held for a week and subjected to harsh interrogation. After posting bail and signing statements, thirteen Christians from the group were conditionally freed.

Two of those arrested, Stephen Reza (48) and Eshan Behrooz (23), remain in detention after they would not post bail or sign any forms. At the time of writing, their whereabouts and condition were unknown, no formal charges had been announced and the prisoners had been denied access to legal representation.

An Assyrian pastor the Iranian government accused of “converting Muslims” is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution, sources close to the case said. State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in Isfahan.  A city of more than 1.5 million people, Isfahan is located 208 miles south of Tehran. According to Farsi Christian News Network, Issavi’s wife, Medline Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison, where she saw that he had obvious signs of torture and was in poor condition. Iranian intelligence officials told Nazanin that her husband might be executed for his alleged activities. Issavi is currently being held in an unmarked prison. Last month’s arrest seems to be part of an anti-Christian sweep that is taking place across Isfahan, it appears authorities are rounding up Christian leaders.

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On August 9 two Christian women appeared before an Iranian judge who asked them to deny their faith and return to Islam. Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, have been held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran since March 5. When both women refused to recant their faith, the judge sent them back to their prison cells “to think about it”. “When they said, ‘Think about it,’ it means you are going back to jail,” said the source, according to Compass. “This is something we say in Iran. It means: ‘Since you’re not sorry, you’ll stay in jail for a long time, and maybe you’ll change your mind.” They share a cell with over 20 other women and both have deteriorating health. Marzieh suffers from spinal pain, an infected tooth and intense headaches and is especially in need of medical attention, which has not been provided.

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