From Tehran to Kermanshah, Iran Hunts Down Christian Converts

The Islamic Republic of Iran has unleashed a fresh wave of persecution against Christian converts, arresting at least 43 believers across 21 cities since June 25th, when the ceasefire with Israel took effect. From Tehran to Rasht, Orumiyeh to Kermanshah, authorities are targeting those who have left Islam—signaling an alarming escalation in religious repression.

Although the exact charges facing some of those arrested have not been made public, some cases involve the possession of Bibles. Others are connected to a newly proposed law that threatens severe punishment for alleged collaboration with so-called hostile states, such as the United States or Israel.

In a recent case, Mehran Shamloui, a Christian who fled Iran to escape imprisonment for his faith, was detained on July 5th after being deported from Turkey back to the country.

In May, Shamloui and two other converts, including a woman pregnant with her first child, were summoned to begin prison sentences totaling over 40 years on charges related to their religious beliefs and worship meetings. The charges include “propaganda against Islamic law” and “membership in groups opposing the state.”

Christian converts from Islam bear the brunt of religious freedom violations, and most of the persecution is carried out by the government. Many Christians are arrested and prosecuted and have received long prison sentences for “crimes against national security.” Identifying as Muslim is a requirement for most jobs, especially in the government. Iranian Christians suffer from legalized discrimination, including being denied the use of the Persian language for any religious activity or Christian material. 

In Iran, all laws must be consistent with Sharia law. A Guardian Council is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and consists of Shia scholars and clerics. They review all legislation as well as candidates for the highest public appointments, e.g., the presidency and parliament. Ethnic Persians are considered Muslim, so converts to Christianity are seen as apostates. This makes almost all Christian activity illegal, especially when using the Persian language. Local Muslim clerics sometimes incite violence against religious minority groups. 

The information regarding the public cases of the Iranian Christians known to be imprisoned at this time is available on Article18’s Prisoners List. 

In an interview with europeanconservative.com, Steve Dew-Jones, the news director of Article18, an organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of religious freedom in Iran, said:

There is no simple answer to why the Iranian regime is targeting Christians. It would appear as though the Iranian regime considers Christians—and especially evangelical Christians and converts to Christianity—as a threat, as the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, made clear in an infamous 2010 speech in which he referenced house churches among the ‘critical threats’ facing the Islamic Republic through ‘deceiving young Muslims’ or leading them ‘astray.’

Since that time, the churches that once offered services in the national language of Persian have been forced to cease such services or to close, and the pressure on the increasing number of house churches that sprung up as a result has intensified. Hundreds of Christians are now arrested each year for their participation in these house churches, which represent the only place of worship available to Persian-speaking Christians in Iran, and at the risk of facing trumped-up charges of ‘acting against national security.’

A new report published in January sheds further light on the ongoing severe persecution of Christians in Iran. According to the joint 2025 annual report published by Article18, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and Middle East Concern, Iranian Christians were sentenced to a combined total of over 250 years in prison in 2024, a sixfold increase compared to 2023.

The report, entitled “The Tip of the Iceberg,” notes that 96 Christians were sentenced to a combined 263 years in prison last year, compared with 22 Christians sentenced to a total of 43.5 years in 2023.

Many more cases go unreported. This was illustrated in 2024, the report notes, with the leaking of over 3 million case files of the Tehran judiciary between 2008 and 2023, including those of over 300 Christians:

That these cases represented only the tip of the iceberg was demonstrated firstly by the fact that they related only to the Tehran region; secondly because the report authors documented a further 37 cases in Tehran over that 15-year period that were not included, involving at least 96 individuals; and thirdly because 58% of cases had gone unreported and were not previously known to the report authors.

According to the report, Christians in Iran are vilified as members of a ‘sect’ and are considered a security threat. The promotion of Christianity is criminalized, Christians are interrogated about their beliefs and forced to recant, the Bible is treated as contraband and evidence of a crime, and charges are brought against Christians for ordinary activities and religious practices.

Over the past decade, Revolutionary Court judges are increasingly adding supplementary punishments (such as fines) on top of prison sentences, says the report. The 96 Christians sentenced in 2024 received fines totaling nearly $800,000, the highest annual figure to date.

Other punishments frequently employed against Christians in recent years have included terms of internal exile, deprivation of social rights, enforced religious “re-education,” and travel bans.

Christian activities commonly considered crimes include conducting worship services at home, performing baptisms, preaching in church, celebrating Christmas, attending house churches, theological education, and singing worship songs.   

In a 2018 verdict, for instance, playing Christian worship songs on a guitar was cited as “misleading Muslim youth” and resulted in a 15-year prison sentence for Amin Afshar-Naderi.

According to the report, in recent years, an increasing number of Christian converts arrested due to their religious activities in house churches have faced not only imprisonment but also forced residence in remote areas far from their homes. For example, each of the following individuals was sentenced to two years of forced residence far from their homes following the completion of their prison terms: Ebrahim Firouzi was sent to Sarbaz, Yousef Nadarkhani to Nik Shahr, Zaman Fadaei to Nehbandan, and Mohammadreza Omidi to Borazjan.

Among the other trends noted in 2024 were the confiscation of Christian properties and the targeting of their finances, as arrested Christians and their lawyers were increasingly questioned about whether they had received funds from abroad:

Each arrest was carried out by IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] intelligence agents, who sought to charge them under a provision within the amended Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, which calls for the maximum punishment of up to 10 years’ imprisonment in cases where the individual has received ‘financial or organisational help from outside the country.'”

According to the report:

Making financial donations to support church activities is standard practice for Christians worldwide but has been criminalized by Iran’s Revolutionary Courts.

While Iran invests in expanding its influence across the region in places like Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon, officials interpret any expansion of Christianity within Iran as an analogous threat, justifying further financial suppression.

Iran became an Islamic Republic when the Shah was removed in the 1979 Revolution and Shia Islamic clerics took control, banning Western influence (which they see as Christian) from their country. Today, the most senior and influential cleric is the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He pulls all political strings and appoints the Guardian Council, which has veto power over all legislation and vets all candidates for political positions.

According to the organization Open Doors, which monitors Christian persecution on a global scale, 

The death of Mahsa Amini, beaten to death by morality police under Iran’s hijab regulations, brought fresh attention to the situation of Iranian women in 2022. Female Christians detained for their faith are shamed and can be sexually assaulted. Particularly Muslim background converts can be forced to marry Muslims. If already married, her children can be taken away to ensure they are raised as Muslims. Within marriages, Christian women are unprotected against sexual abuse and domestic violence, creating impunity for perpetrators of violent religious persecution. As they are not allowed to freely travel, it is difficult to flee.

Men are more likely to be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for lengthy periods, especially in urban areas. They are usually the primary providers for their families. When converting to Christianity, men risk losing their jobs. Men also face monitoring, threats, and harassment, the stress of which can force them to flee the country.

Jones told europeanconservative.com that they are calling on Western governments to speak out publicly against Iran’s violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), as well as in any engagements with the Iranian authorities, and call on Iran to repeal the vague and overly broad Articles 500 and 500b of the penal code, whose continued use constitutes a direct violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

He also called on the West to raise specific cases of Christian prisoners of conscience, such as Joseph and Lida Shahbazian, Mina Khajavi, Hakop Gochumyan, and Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, and pursue targeted Magnitsky-style sanctions against violators, including judges who have handed down multiple long-term sentences to Christian converts based on little or no evidence, and security agents within the Ministry of Intelligence and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who have been implicated in torture, denial of medical care, and forcing detainees to recant their faith.