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Iran: Christians Persevere Under Intense Persecution

January 29, 2023

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 Christians Persevere Under Intense Persecution,” International Christian Concern, January 27, 2023:

01/27/2023 (International Christian Concern) – Christians continue to face increased pressure and persecution as the Iranian authorities tighten their grip on the nation in response to nationwide protests since September 2022 that have shaken the Islamic Republic of Iran’s entire social and political system. Christian converts from Islam in particular face persecution, including imprisonment of house church leaders and denial of their basic rights as citizens.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought the current Iranian government to power, hundreds of thousands, some estimates say up to a million, Iranians have converted to Christianity. This rapidly growing minority of Christian converts have no formal recognition under Iranian law, and as such receive no basic protection. They are considered as direct enemies of the Iranian state, subject to direct violence and arrest of their leaders and house church members, and under the current structure of law, they are treated as apostates and thus have absolutely no freedom of belief.

Despite these persecutions, the number of converts in Iran continue to grow….