Christians persecuted in Iran

For broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 30 June 2013.

According to Mohabat News, which reports on news of Christians in Iran, six Iranian converts to Christianity have been convicted of crimes related to their membership in a house church since the recent Presidential elections.

Four men were found guilty of attending a house church, spreading Christianity, having contact with foreign ministries, propaganda against the Iranian regime, and disrupting national security.  Each was sentenced to 44 months in prison.  The wife of one man, and her son, were convicted of lesser offences and each received a two-year suspended sentence.

The six were arrested as they met for worship in February 2012, and were held in custody for more than a year before their court appearances.  In Iran, an officially Islamic country where judges are required to be senior Muslim clerics, religion is considered a national security issue.

Life can quickly turn ugly for those who choose to become followers of Jesus in an Islamic country.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.