by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A Christian member of a house church in Iran has recently been brought before the Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of operating “propaganda against the Islamic regime,” International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Shabeddin Shahi was arrested and detained in December 2023 on renewed charges of engaging in propaganda against Islam as part of Article 500, ICC said. He appeared before the court in Karaj on March 11, ICC said. Shahi had spent four months in prison in 2019 on the same charges.
Shahi was arrested in March together with fellow house church members Milad Goodarzi and brothers Alireza and Amir Nourmohammadi, ICC said. The Nourmohammadi brothers have also previously spent time in prison on account of their faith. ICC noted that it has spent years documenting similar cases in Iran.
In a statement about the situation facing Christians in Iran, the Open Doors international Christian advocacy group reports: “The government views conversion [from Islam to Christianity] as an attempt by the West to undermine Islam and the Islamic government of Iran. This means that anyone who is discovered to be a member of a house church can be charged with a crime against national security, which can lead to long prison sentences.”
Despite these challenges, ICC emphasized in its report that Christianity is nevertheless “spreading rapidly” in Iran.
Ruled by a violently oppressive Islamic regime since 1979, Iran ranks nine on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
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