Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has announced the arrest of 53 Christians since June, following the conflict with Israel now referred to as the “12-day war”.
In a statement, the Iranian authorities described those detained as “Mossad mercenaries” - a reference to Israel’s intelligence agency and accused them of being trained by foreign churches “under the guise of the Zionist Christian evangelisation movement”. The authorities allege that the group engaged in activities “contrary to security” and claim weapons were also seized.
The Ministry made a distinction between evangelical Christians - who are frequently targeted - and the Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities, who are officially recognised and described as “loyal” supporters of the regime.
Iran is an Islamic Republic, with 99 per cent of its population identifying as Muslim. Around 100,000 Armenians and Assyrians live in the country and are permitted to worship in their own languages, but not to teach or worship in Persian. It is illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity.
According to Article 18, an organisation monitoring religious freedom in Iran, at least 11 of the 53 Christians arrested have been released on bail. More than 40 remain imprisoned, reportedly for “gathering” together for worship in a neighbouring country.
Due to the ban on conversion and the risk of persecution, many new Christians are forced to travel abroad to neighbouring countries for spiritual support.
Mansour Borji, director of Article 18, told Zenit news agency: “In this case, we know that some of the Christians arrested recently participated in a gathering in a neighbouring country organised by a foreign church.
“They are forbidden to participate in such gatherings inside Iran. Upon their return, they were arrested.”
He added: “There is no independent or fair judicial system in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, all those arrested on charges of security, political, ideological or ‘espionage’ offences are denied a fair trial, subjected to severe torture and do not even have access to an independent lawyer.”