Iran: 2 Christians given 8-year prison sentences

The outside of the Evin prison in Tehran. Photo: Flickr/ SabzPhoto
Two Iranian Christians in the southern city of Shiraz have been sentenced to eight years in prison for “action against national security”, proselytising and holding “house-church” meetings. Eskander Rezaie and Soroush Saraei, who have both spent time in prison before, will appeal their sentences, according to Christian advocacy group Middle . . . Read More

Christian children in Iran told: ‘study Islam or leave school’

Christian children in Iran told: ‘study Islam or leave school’
Christian children in two large Iranian cities have been told to either study Shia Islam or leave school. The children are members of the non-Trinitarian ‘Church of Iran’ denomination in the northern city of Rasht, near the Caspian Sea, and the historical southern city of Shiraz, respectively. Until recently the . . . Read More

Accounts surface of persecution of Christians in Dunkirk migrants’ camp

Accounts surface of persecution of Christians in Dunkirk migrants’ camp
Outside the windswept port of Dunkirk, in northern France, sits a migrants’ camp called La Linière. Home to around 1,400 people, it lies 25 miles from Calais and the now-demolished camp that became known as the “Jungle”. La Linière opened a year ago, with the collaboration of Médicins sans Frontières . . . Read More

Iran’s hidden Christians are becoming visible in the migrant camps of Europe

Iran’s hidden Christians are becoming visible in the migrant camps of Europe
A pastor in northern France has described her church’s ministry to Middle Eastern migrants in a nearby camp as “the mission field coming to you”. The church’s leader, Pastor Lydie Granger, said that among the estimated 1,400 migrants living in the camp outside Dunkirk were around 40 Iranians who had . . . Read More

Iranian Christian released

An Iranian Christian has been released from prison in the southern city of Shiraz, reports Middle East Concern. Soroush Saraei had been in prison since July 2014 and was serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for “action against national security” and “propaganda against the order of the system”. He was arrested alongside . . . Read More

Iranian Christian released – two still detained

Middle East Concern, an association of Christian agencies, reports that Iranian detainee Vahid Hakkani was released Jan. 26 from Adel-Abad Prison in Shiraz. Hakkani, one of eight Christians arrested in Feb. 2012, went on at least two hunger strikes during 2014 in efforts to protest against the Iranian judicial authorities . . . Read More