Recent reports indicate Iran has intensified its crackdown on Christians, following the rearrest of two men.
According to Article 18, a UK-based NGO dedicated to religious freedom in Iran, two Christians in their 60s, previously released after serving six years in prison for leading house churches, have been rearrested.
Iranian intelligence agents rearrested Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh and Joseph Shahbazian, detaining them in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Article 18 reports Gol-Tapeh is on a hunger strike protesting his rearrest.
Article 18 also stated that several other Tehran Christians were arrested concurrently and remain in custody.
Iranian-Americans and dissidents are urging the Trump administration to address Iran’s widespread human rights abuses and impose sanctions.
Iran expert Alireza Nader stated that Iranian Christians face relentless persecution, advocating for increased public attention and maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on the Iranian regime.
Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, a German-Iranian political scientist specializing in religious minorities in Iran, noted that Christian discrimination in Iran is severe, ranking ninth globally in a scale measuring the severity of persecution.
He explained that the government considers Christian converts a threat to national security, believing they are influenced by Western nations to undermine Islam and the regime. This leads to severe religious freedom violations, including arrests and lengthy prison sentences.
Wahdat-Hagh added that those who convert from Islam to Christianity are particularly vulnerable, lacking legal recognition and frequently targeted by security forces.
Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian Christian who fled to Germany to practice her faith freely, explained that the Islamic Republic is alarmed by the growing number of Christian converts, despite the oppressive environment. International human rights groups often classify Christian converts as political prisoners of conscience, facing ongoing risk of rearrest and punishment.
The dire situation prompted UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, to express serious concern.
The 2023 US State Department report on religious freedom in Iran stated that the government continued to regulate Christian practices, prohibiting Farsi-language Christian worship and characterizing private home churches as illegal networks and Zionist propaganda institutions.
Precise figures on the number of Christians in Iran are unavailable due to widespread repression. While the Iranian regime’s 2016 census reported 117,700 Christians from recognized denominations, other estimates range from 500,000 to 1.24 million.
In early February, the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Iran to counter its nuclear program and support for terrorism.
Vojoudi urged the US and European nations to take meaningful action, holding Iran accountable for supporting terrorism and violating religious freedom.
Multiple requests for comment from Iran’s foreign ministry and UN mission remained unanswered.