The article below states that these converts were sentenced on August 22. ChristianPersecution.com, however, reported on their sentencing on July 1. The Persian-language report upon which the article below is based explains that on August 22, the convictions of the three Christians were upheld, although their sentences were reduced from five to three years. Nonetheless, as these men were convicted solely for preaching Christianity, even with the reductions the sentences remain unjust.
This persecution of Amin Khaki, Milad Goudarzi and Alireza Nourmohammadi is not unique. The Iranian government often targets converts to Christianity as apostates, which is a criminal offense in Iran. However, in this case they were charged with “engaging in propaganda against the Islamic regime.” As they were not engaging in political activity, but only preaching the Gospel, that charge comes close to criminalizing the very practice of the Christian faith, or of any faith that is contrary to Islam.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of Iran, see here.
“Iran: Three Christian Converts Sentenced To Prison In Karaj,” Eurasia Review, August 29, 2021:
Three Christian converts were sentenced to prison in Karaj near Tehran on August 22.
According to the Article 18 website, they were identified as Milad Goudarzi, Ameen Khaki, and Alireza Nourmohammadi.
The three converts were released on bail for 250 million tomans (about $8,828) but must introduce themselves to the police on a weekly basis for six months.
In November 2020, their houses were raided by security forces, and their personal belongings including their laptops, smartphones, and holy books were confiscated. Their belongings were later returned but their holy books were kept in custody.
According to Iranian law, evangelism, missionary work, and converting to Christianity can be a crime meriting a sentence of more than 10 years imprisonment. The distribution of Christian literature in Persian is currently illegal in Iran….
