Within the intensifying non secular repression in Iran, two Christian converts—Mehdi Rahimi, 49, and Kia Nourinia, 55—have been sentenced to 12 years in jail by the Revolutionary Court docket in Tabriz for possessing a number of copies of the Bible. The court docket deemed the boys responsible of “propaganda of deviant Christian-Zionist beliefs” and “smuggling prohibited items,” highlighting as soon as once more the regime’s ongoing assault on freedom of faith and perception.
The 2 males had fled Iran previous to the April 2025 sentencing, following intelligence raids on their properties in November 2024, the place authorities confiscated Christian literature and Persian-language Bibles. Tried in absentia, they now face steep penalties: a decade in jail for his or her religion, an extra two years for the so-called smuggling offense, and fines exceeding US$1,000.
Bibles Handled Like Weapons:
This case is a part of a troubling sample. In 2023 alone, at the least 166 Christians have been arrested in Iran, based on rights teams. Many have been accused of distributing Bibles, holding home church conferences, or “selling Christianity”—acts that the Islamic Republic treats as nationwide safety threats.
Within the eyes of the regime, Persian-language Bibles are usually not sacred texts, however devices of Western subversion. The irony is sharp: whereas the Iranian Structure formally protects Christian minorities comparable to Armenians and Assyrians, it criminalizes Persian-speaking converts—the very people for whom the Christian message is most private and transformative.
Mosque Closures and Waning Islamic Management:
Whereas the Islamic regime intensifies its crackdown on Christians, its grip over its personal non secular infrastructure is weakening. In latest months, mosques throughout Iran have been quietly closing—not for lack of presidency help, however as a consequence of an absence of public curiosity. Particularly among the many youth, Islam not holds the identical emotional or ethical sway. Friday prayers are sparsely attended. Clerics communicate to near-empty halls. Even government-paid imams have acknowledged the “non secular apathy” spreading amongst Iran’s youthful generations.
Disillusioned by many years of hypocrisy, political repression, and state-sanctioned brutality carried out within the identify of Islam, thousands and thousands of Iranians are leaving the religion altogether. A groundbreaking survey by GAMAAN (2020) discovered that over 47% of Iranians recognized as non-religious, and 1.5% already recognized as Christians—an enormous shift in a rustic the place apostasy can nonetheless result in execution.
Regardless of the regime’s finest efforts—or maybe due to them—Christianity is rising in Iran, particularly amongst younger individuals, intellectuals, and girls. Underground home church buildings are multiplying, Persian-language Bibles are being downloaded in secret, and testimonies of goals, healings, and non secular awakenings are quietly spreading by way of social media and encrypted networks.
Teams like Article18, Open Doorways, and Elam Ministries report that Iran is now one of many fastest-growing Christian actions on this planet. This motion is fueled not by international missionaries however by Iranians themselves—lots of whom are former Muslims—searching for peace, dignity, and reality.
“The extra they crack down, the extra persons are curious,” says one Iranian pastor now in exile. “They ask, ‘Why is that this message so harmful to the federal government?’ That curiosity results in studying and studying results in Jesus.”
A Turning Wave:
The sentence of Rahimi and Nourinia is tragic—however it’s also a narration. It reveals a authorities more and more afraid of its personal individuals, afraid of books, and afraid of perception. And it stands in distinction to the non secular starvation now rising throughout Iran—not for political faith, however for genuine religion.
The Iranian regime might shut church buildings, burn Bibles, and jail converts. However they can not extinguish the sunshine that’s quietly spreading throughout their land.
