Iran

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's government has ordered children belonging to families of one of the country's largest house church movements to study the Koran and Shi’a Islam teachings or face expulsion from school, a church official confirmed to BosNewsLife Thursday, September 7. The Church of Iran movement is also concerned about four jailed members saying one of them "was deported to a feared secret police facility" in the southern city of Shiraz.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian authorities have decided to prosecute a group of evangelical Christians on charges of "apostasy", or abandoning Islam, which could carry the death penalty in the strict Islamic nation, a representative of a large house church movement told BosNewsLife Thursday, February 10.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent with BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iran's religious leadership has pressured church leaders to testify against a jailed Iranian pastor who faces a new trial Saturday, September 8, for "apostasy", which carries the death penalty.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A devoted Iranian Christian has been transferred to a ward of Tehran's notorious Evin prison to serve a three-year sentence for evangelism and related charges, Iranian Christians told BosNewsLife Saturday, December 7. Rasoul Abdollahi, who converted to Christianity, was reportedly accused of "collusion against the government and evangelism" following a crackdown by security forces on Christian groups.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- An Iranian judge who sentenced a well-known pastor and three devoted Christians to long prison terms is practically demanding that they no longer recognize Jesus as Lord, ahead of an upcoming appeal hearing, a well-informed church official told BosNewsLife Sunday, September 3.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christian rights activists say they are alarmed by a reported new government crackdown on devoted Christians in Iran under the recently elected President Hassan Rouhani.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians have urged prayers for three Christian converts in the coastal city of Rasht who have appealed against a sentence of 80 lashes for drinking wine at a communion service and two fellow believers in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison who are threatening to go on hunger strike, well-informed Christians told BosNewsLife.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani of the Church of Iran, the country's largest house church movement, and his wife Tina Pasandide Nadarkhani have been released from detention but three other church members remain in custody, a senior church official told BosNewsLife Saturday, May 14.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Iranian Christians are concerned about Maryam Naghash Zargaran after she was reportedly denied urgent medical treatment and fellow believer Ebrahim Firouzi who was told by an Iranian court that his five-year sentence has been upheld. The two Christians both converted from Islam, a move that can be punishable by prison and even death under Iranian law.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian convert remained in an Iranian jail Wednesday, February 29, after being sentenced to three years imprisonment for his Christian activities, trial observers said.