Three Christian converts in Iran have been imprisoned for two years because of their involvement in a house church – a further sign that persecution in the nation continues to intensify.
Hannah Golami, Daniel Mohammadi and Teymur Hosseini (an Afghan convert) were sentenced for “forming” and “membership” of a “group or association with the aim of disrupting national security” after the authorities carried out raids on house churches and homes, according to Article 18. Another believer has also been handed a year’s sentence for “aiding and abetting” the others.
The Iranian authorities regard many house churches as opposed to the state, and converts are barred from them even when they are their only option for worship. They have appealed against their sentences and applied for retrials at the Supreme Court, but these have been rejected.
Elam Ministries, who work to support the church in Iran, that they told en do not expect their “unjust” sentences to be overturned or for persecution and intimidation to ease, with the Iranian regime “particularly sensitive” towards factions not aligned with their ideology in light of recent tensions in the wider region.
Elam’s Executive Director David Yeghnazar said: “It grieves us deeply to see Iranian believers suffer for their faith, especially those unjustly imprisoned in Iran’s notoriously harsh prison system. Many Iranian believers have testified to God’s remarkable faithfulness during their time in prison, so we urge the global church to pray for every brother and sister facing persecution in Iran today.”
The arrests of Gholami and Mohammadi resulted from a raid by 30 intelligence agents on a house church gathering in Shahriar (35 miles west of Tehran) in December 2023 when some 25 worshippers had gathered to pray and to plan their Christmas celebration.
Hosseini arrived in Iran as a refugee from Afghanistan 20 years ago. He is a shoemaker who is married with three children.
A fourth, unnamed, Christian has also been sentenced to a year in prison for “aiding and abetting” others in these alleged crimes.
Christian organisation Middle East Concern said: “Pray that God will encourage these Christians and their families; that they will adjust to prison life and relate well to fellow prisoners, having opportunity to witness; and that they will be in good health, physically and emotionally.
“Pray also for the Iranian authorities that they will stop the criminalisation of normal Christian activities and that these and other Christians in prison will be allowed early release.”
