On December 14, ChristianPersecution.com reported on the persecution of Milad Goodarzi. Here is additional information on his case.
The U.S. State Department has classified Iran as a “country of particular concern” for “having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of Iran, see here.
“Iranian couple due to be questioned, just months after husband was released from prison,” Open Doors, December 12, 2023:
Please pray for a Christian couple in Iran who are due to be summoned for further questioning by the authorities. It comes after the husband, Milad Goodarzi, was arrested earlier this week , just months after being released from prison.
Milad was released from Karaj Central Prison in March 2023 as part of a general amnesty granted to prisoners for the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. He was serving a three-year prison sentence (reduced on appeal from five years) after being convicted in June 2021 of ‘engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic’ under the newly amended Article 500 of the Penal Code. He had already served a four-month prison sentence in 2020 on the same charge.
But on Monday (11 December), Milad was arrested after four members of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence raided his home in Karaj, a large suburb of Tehran. He was held for a few hours, and his laptop and phone were confiscated.
Milad is one of the first Christian converts known to have been penalised for the peaceful expression of his faith under the new provisions.
Arbitrary justice in Iran
Iran is number eight on the World Watch List. The tightening of the penal code in 2021 is part of a wider development towards Iran becoming a totalitarian state. State surveillance is on the rise and the authorities are exerting an increasing grip on daily life and activities.
Milad’s situation reflects the arbitrary nature of Iran’s justice system and its impact on Christians….
