Leaked cases of more than 300 Christians in Iran charged with crimes related to their faith show how the vast majority, converts from Islam, are targeted, a rights watchdog reports.
About 90 percent of the 327 Christians prosecuted for their faith are converts, according to Article 18.
“Given that the 327 cases relate only to the Tehran region, they represent a mere drop in the ocean of all convictions of Christians over the 15-year period, especially as Article18 documented a further 37 cases in the Tehran region over those 15 years which were not included in the leaked files, involving at least 96 individuals,” the group reported on Thursday (Aug. 29).
Only eight of the 327 cases were foreign nations, while three were dual nationals, and 22 of those prosecuted were of Assyrian or Armenian descent – Christians whose faith is recognized by Iranian law, unlike that of converts, the group reported.
The cases are among more than 3 million prosecutions discovered by hackers of the Tehran judiciary’s website over the past six months, Article18 stated. The data, leaked in stages by Edaalate Ali since February, include cases of Christians prosecuted in the Tehran area between July 2008 and January 2023, including at least seven ordained ministers.
Of those prosecuted, 60 percent were male.
The most common charge was “propaganda against the state [by promoting Christianity],” 86 percent of the cases. That was followed by membership of “anti-security” groups, that is, house churches, at 69 percent of the charges, and leadership of those groups accounted for 58 percent of the cases.
Other charges included “insulting Islamic sanctities,” 42 percent of the cases, and “gathering and collusion against national security,” 30 percent. Article 18 reported that 34 Christians were charged with “disturbing public opinion,” 30 with “disrupting peace and order,” 28 with “insulting the Supreme Leader,” 26 with possession of satellite receivers” and 25 with “apostasy.”
Two Christians were accused of “spying,” and in another case the managers of three online shops selling Christian books were charged with “selling deviant evangelistic materials” and “hurting public modesty and morals through the display, promotion and sale of evangelistic books and items.”
Iranian-Assyrian church leader Sergez Benyamin was charged with “disobeying officers performing their duty” for resisting the forced closure of his church without a warrant, Article 18 reported. Other charges included “acting against the country’s national security through the administration of illegal organizations of the Iranian Evangelical Council,” though the council was officially registered prior to the 1979 revolution and again afterwards, according to Article 18.
A senior pastor was charged with “foreign trips and communicating and cooperating with evangelistic organizations and spy services” for traveling abroad to attend gatherings with other church leaders.
“It is also worth noting that the majority of cases (58 percent) in the leaked files were not previously known to Article18, highlighting the challenge of documenting cases that the individuals or their families choose not to publicize,” the group reported.
Demonizing Evangelicals
The leaked documents reveal that officials routinely label ordinary Christian worship as “cultic,” “anti-revolutionary” or a “security risk,” with the clear aim of stigmatizing Christian groups that do not conform to government criteria of “acceptable Christians,” the group noted.
Prosecutors and judges frequently label evangelicals as “Zionists,” “deviant” or “illegal sects” in attempts to distinguish converts to Christianity from the officially tolerated Christians of Armenian and Assyrian descent, it added.
In an indictment against a woman convert identified only as A. Yazdani, a judge notes that “Evangelical Christianity has targeted the foundations of the Muslim people’s faith in the interests of global [powers] and is weakening the foundations of families by spreading unruliness. This sect has attempted to conduct a soft revolution against the Islamic Republic by changing the Shiite beliefs of the people and promoting immorality… Evangelistic Christianity in Iran seeks to weaken the foundation of the family and diminish the Islamic teachings and promote sexual promiscuity and fight against the necessities of Islam, including the Islamic hijab, as well as cleansing the evils of America and especially the occupying regime of Israel.”
The judge went on to cite a famed October 2010 speech of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in which he warned that the spread of house churches was one of the ways in which Muslim faith, especially that of the younger generation, was intentionally “being shaken” by the “enemies of Islam.”
The judge also cited another ayatollah, Vahid Khorasani, who said evangelical Christianity and house churches were “causing an uproar” in Iran and that it was “the duty of the government to stand against them,” the report noted.
In the case of Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and three other converts sentenced to 10 years in prison, two letters from recognized church leaders were used to portray house-church members as “a Western-oriented, anti-religious and deviant scattered group” who “by abusing the general title of ‘Christianity’ are forming deviant sects and congregations and working against the security of the country.”
Article18 Director Mansour Borji commented that evangelical churches, which have been shut down especially since 2009, were all once officially registered and recognized churches.
“They came increasingly under pressure when they refused to abandon the national language of Persian in their worship services, allowing the opportunity for people from all other faith groups to join their congregation,” Borji stated in the report. “There are still a handful of evangelical Protestant churches operating with the full knowledge of the Iranian authorities, albeit now open only to ethnic Armenian or Assyrians.”
Criminalizing Christian Practice
Besides accounts of the flogging Christians for drinking Communion wine, the leaked documents show Tehran area judges and prosecutors used the term “acquiring wealth through illegal means” against at least two church leaders for receiving tithes and offerings that were given to the needy.
One indictment stated, “The accused has led his son and daughter to the evangelical sect and has organized Communion for them. The accused has been very devoted to the evangelical sect in such a way that he used to pay her tithes regularly.”
Accusations in other cases included “publication of” or “spreading lies” as in the case of Iranian-Assyrian pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, accused of “publishing lies through the publication of evangelical teachings.” Separately, four converts were accused of “spreading lies by promoting evangelical Christianity,” while another Christian was accused of “publishing lies with the intention of confusing the public mind,” Article 18 stated.
Frequently authorities refer to the Bible as evidence of a crime, Article 18 stated, noting that Bibles in the church of Iranian-Assyrian Pastor Sergez Benyamin were referred to as “unauthorized evangelical items.”
They also refer to Bibles as “deviant” and “divisive” books. “Smuggling” of Bibles is listed among accusations in numerous cases and termed a “propaganda activity against the regime,” while officials describe Christian literature sold online as “providing grounds for people’s corruption.”
There are several examples of violation of Article 23 of Iran’s Constitution, which states that “investigation of individuals’ beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.”
The text of one warrant specifically orders investigating officers to probe the beliefs of a convert: “In the investigation, it should be determined from the accused: a) What religion and orientation did the accused believe in? b) In what way has he converted to Christianity? c) What methods did he use to attract other people to Christianity? d) In which places has he organized house church and preaching and teaching activities of evangelical Christianity?”
These violations occurred even as Iranian authorities repeatedly claim that “no one is arrested or detained for their faith or belief,” Article 18 noted.
A letter from a Christian charged in another case describes how officials forced him and his wife to confess crimes on camera and ask for forgiveness, as well as participate in Islamic classes and halt contact with Christians.
“From the beginning of the date recorded in the case until today, and at any other time, we have not and will not have any dealings with any of those people, and during all this time we had every necessary cooperation with the judicial authorities and the intelligence agents by attending the classes of Islamic jurisprudence,” their letter states. “We also cooperated in confessing in front of the camera, as requested by brothers in the Ministry of Intelligence. I implore you, respected authorities, given the fact that we have two children, and sick parents, to agree to our request and grant us pardon and forgiveness.”
Iran ranked ninth on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian.
