Shrine of Shah Cheragh in Shiraz, Iran. (Herbert Karim Masihi)
LONDON (Morning Star Information) – As leaders of Iran proceed in charge and punish Christians for his or her alleged half within the regime’s political and army troubles of final 12 months, a brand new report outlines the persecution that Christians within the Islamic Republic suffered in 2025.
Calling Iran’s “12-day battle” of June 13-24 a pivotal second that “impacted all Iranians however left minorities particularly susceptible to focusing on and scapegoating,” advocacy group Article 18’s annual report famous that in lower than one month after the ceasefire, brokers with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Safety (MOIS) unfold out throughout at the least 19 totally different cities within the nation, arrested greater than 50 Christians and accused them of involvement in “anti-security” actions.
Within the report, “Scapegoats: Rights Violations Towards Christians in Iran,” Article 18 in partnership with Open Doorways, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Center East Concern reported that MOIS issued an announcement labeling Christians “Mossad mercenaries,” a reference to Israel’s intelligence company, who have been “educated overseas” by church buildings in america and Israel and had acted “below the guise of the ‘Zionist’ Christian evangelization motion.”
In August, state media launched a video report basically admitting officers monitor converts who journey outdoors of Iran. They confirmed footage of among the arrested Christians at a church gathering in Türkiye and aired pressured confessions the place Christians admitted to touring abroad to obtain non secular instruction.
The federal government additionally more and more criminalized the possession of Bibles, particularly ones imported from outdoors the nation.
General, the pattern of persecution continues to worsen in Iran. In keeping with the report, almost twice as many Christians have been arrested for his or her religion in 2025 than in 2024; 254 Christians have been arrested on fees associated to their religion or non secular actions final 12 months, in contrast with 139 the prior 12 months.
Christians have been additionally sentenced extra severely, receiving greater than 280 mixed years in jail, “the next determine than 2024, regardless of involving fewer people, conveying a pattern in the direction of harsher sentences,” the report reads. Greater than 11 Christians have been issued sentences of greater than 10 years.
In 90 p.c of the instances towards Christians, fees have been introduced below Article 500, which was amended in 2021 and criminalizes “propaganda opposite to the holy faith of Islam.”
On the finish of final 12 months, 59 Christians have been both serving sentences or being held in jail awaiting trial. Mistreatment of Christian prisoners is turning into extra widespread, in accordance with the report. Unwell-treatment consists of denial of healthcare, psychological torture and bodily abuse.
One Christian detainee who obtained his second 10-year sentence in 2025 was prevented from attending his mom’s funeral, and one other Christian convert sentenced alongside him suffered a stroke whereas held in solitary confinement.
“In October, a Christian convert fractured her backbone after falling from her jail bunk mattress and solely obtained mandatory surgical procedure after fellow prisoners protested on her behalf,” the report reads. “She later developed an an infection after being returned from hospital too quickly, and was stated to be susceptible to paralysis.”
Jail officers refused medical remedy for one Christian prisoner after she broke two fingers in a fall. When she was launched after serving 15 years, she was in a extreme “psychologically unstable state” after spending the ultimate weeks of her sentencing in a MOIS-controlled wing of her jail, Article 18 reported.
Within the final week of the 2025, protests over the financial system, inflation and the oppressiveness of the Islamic regime started arising everywhere in the nation. Hundreds took to the streets, and hundreds have been imprisoned or killed. Estimates of Christians killed within the civil unrest have been low, with Article 18 estimating at the least 19 whereas different teams cite at the least 50.
“The highway forward for Iran seems removed from clear, however as we launch this newest annual report of rights violations dedicated towards Christians in 2025, we stand with the folks of Iran of their name for leaders who will act on their behalf, quite than repress them,” that research states.
The report was revealed on Feb. 19, the forty sixth anniversary of the homicide of the Rev. Arastoo Sayyah. Sayyah was killed on Feb. 19, 1979, in his church workplace in Shiraz simply eight days after the tip of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. He was the primary Christian identified to be killed for his religion within the nascent years of the Islamic Republic.
Iran ranked 10th on Open Doorways’ 2026 World Watch Record (WWL) of the 50 nations the place it’s most troublesome to be a Christian.
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