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Iran: Internal Exile Extended for Convert to Christianity

March 17, 2020

Persecution of Christians in Iran: this story indicates how deeply threatened many governments that persecute Christians are by the Holy Gospel of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. They know that God can transform men’s souls, and authoritarian governments in particular fear that they will lose their control over their people if there are large-scale conversions to Christianity. The result is the persecution and harassment of people who have no one to come to their aid, such as Ibrahim Firouzi.

Please pray that Almighty God would grant to him and to all the Christians of Iran the indomitable strength and perseverance in the Faith of the Holy Martyrs.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of Iran, see here.

“Exile Extended for Iranian Christian,” International Christian Concern, March 16, 2020:

03/16/2020 Iran (International Christian Concern) – An Iranian Christian convert, Ibrahim Firouzi, currently serving a two-year sentence of internal exile has had his sentenced extended by an additional 11 months. The Iranian authorities have justified this decision by saying that he took an unauthorized leave of absence.

Firouzi was exiled 1,000 miles from his home after serving six years in prison because of the practice of his Christian faith. He is exiled in the remote city of Sarbaz, which is near the border with Pakistan. Shortly after arriving in Sarbaz, he had requested a short furlough from exile so that he can sort out some pending family affairs. His mother had passed away shortly before his release from prison and the transition between his prison and exile sentences was brief.

The authorities in Sarbaz told him that a furlough was likely fine but needed to verify with officials in his home town. When he heard nothing from the authorities, Firouzi went home for six days and then returned back to Sarbaz. He was then notified that his absence was reported to authorities in Tehran. Firouzi subsequently was able to get a letter signed by a judge in his home town authorizing his absence, but was later told it was not sufficient….

There is no opportunity for Firouzi to appeal this decision, and the court has used charges that he had previously been acquitted for to further justify this decision.