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Iran (MNN) ― It is with great joy that Open Doors confirms the release of Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, today. For around nine months, the two Iranian Christian women have been held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, two Christian converts from Islam, were released from Evin Prison in Tehran on Wednesday. Iran (MNN) ― It is with great joy that Open Doors confirms the release of Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, today. For around nine months, the two Iranian Christian women have been held in the notorious...

"Maryam and Marzieh – In danger of being forgotten in Iran," from Voice of the Martyrs The two Iranian Christian women, Maryam Rustampoor (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh (30) continue to be held in Evin prison in Iran because of their Christian faith, unfairly labeled as ‘anti-government activists’, because of the hostility of the government towards practising Christians. In the aftermath of the political turmoil in Iran, they are now in danger of being forgotten. One church leader from Iran said, “With so many hundreds of protestors now in the prison system, Maryam and Marzieh are likely to be forgotten.” Arrested...

German blogs, Jihad Watch & Atlas Shrugged are discussing the apparent Christian cross seen worn by Neda in an AP photo.

Note: The following text is a quote: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Iran: Imprisoned Christian women in peril - a call to pray for Iran By Elizabeth Kendal Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 001 Special to ASSIST News Service AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- Maryam Rostampour (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad (30) share an apartment and are active members of Iran's Christian community. On 5 March one of the women attended a summons at the Ministry of Intelligence. Officers then took her back to her apartment, arrested both women and confiscated their computers, books, Bibles and other personal items. According to International Christian...

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- The son of an Iranian pastor who was executed for "apostasy" was said to be in solitary confinement Thursday, October 16, and there were concerns he may also faith the death penalty. Ramtin Soodmand, was recently charged with promoting anti-government propaganda, apparently because of his Christian activities. ...

An Iranian man who with his wife chose a Christian name for their newborn son has been arrested and imprisoned by Muslims on allegations of apostasy. Issa Motamadi, whose son became known to authorities seven months ago, faces a trial before a national Revolutionary Tribunal, according to a World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission report published by Assist News Service. Motamadi, a resident of Recht, the capital of Gilan Province, was taken into custody July 24 and sources told the Religious Liberty Commission it was because of the couple's choice of a name. Both Motamadi and his wife, Parvah, are...

Crisis prompts 120 leaders to launch 40-day campaign Amid Tehran's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons, 120 Iranian church leaders are calling on Christians around the world to fast and pray for 40 days. The campaign begins Thursday, which is Ascension Day, which recalls Jesus' command to his disciples, before he rose to Heaven, to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. A website http://www.prayforiran.com/ will post daily prayer requests beginning Thursday covering the church, people, and political situations in the country. The site will include a five-minute slideshow with images from Iran along with Persian worship music to accompany...

Iran is denying reports that it has passed legislation requiring its Jews to wear yellow cloth strips to single them out, its Christians to wear a red version and Zoroastrians a blue one. Some are unpersuaded. The Simon Wiesenthal Center's Rabbi Marvin Hier, for instance, is adamant "that the national uniform law was passed and that certain colors were selected for Jews and other minorities." But Teheran is adamant and scandalized. The reports of such Nazi-echoed branding "are slanderous accusations… a smear campaign," according to an outraged Iranian government spokesman. So that's all right then? We can all relax? Hardly....

The Iranian Embassy in Ottawa is denying a story published yesterday by Canada's National Post that Tehran has legislated color-coded badges for Jews, Christians and other religious minorities, and several experts on the workings of the Islamic regime have concurred, saying evidence of such a scheme cannot be found. According to the reports, Jews were to be required to wear yellow cloth strips, called zonar, while Christians were to wear red and Zoroastrians blue. The initial information for the reports came from Iranian expatriates living in Canada. The Simon Wiesenthal Center reported that it had confirmed the story that the...

Jewish MP denies Iran badge plan From correspondents in Tehran 20may06 IRAN'S only Jewish MP strongly denied reports in a Canadian newspaper overnight that Iran may force non-Muslims to wear coloured badges in public so they can be identified. "This report is a complete fabrication and is totally false," Maurice Motammed said in Tehran. "It is a lie, and the people who invented it wanted to make political gain" by doing so. The National Post newspaper quoted human rights groups as saying that Iran's parliament passed a law this week setting a public dress code and requiring non-Muslims to wear...

Experts say report of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue Several experts are casting doubt on reports that Iran had passed a law requiring the country’s Jews and other religious minorities to wear coloured badges identifying them as non-Muslims. The Iranian embassy in Otttawa also denied the Iranian government had passed such a law. A news story and column by Iranian-born analyst Amir Taheri in yesterday’s National Post reported that the Iranian parliament had passed a sweeping new law this week outlining proper dress for Iran’s majority Muslims, including an order for Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians to wear special...

Iran may force badges on Jews, Christians TEHRAN, May 19 (UPI) -- Iran's parliament passed a new law this week that would force the country's Jews, Christians and other religious minorities to wear color-coded ID badges. Iranian expatriates confirmed reports the Iranian parliament, or majlis, has approved a law that would require non-Muslims to adhere to a dress code which mandates they wear "standard Islamic garments," according to Canada's National Post. The roughly 25,000 Jews living in the Islamic Republic would have to attach a yellow strip of cloth to their clothing, Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says news reports that Iran could require Jews and Christians to wear coloured labels in public might be true. He says Iran's hardline Islamist government has proven itself capable of such extreme actions. He called a law allegedly being considered in Iran a mind-boggling reminder of Nazi German practices. He says reports that Iran is considering a law to force Jews to wear yellow labels, and Christians red ones, are a reminder to the world that Iran must never gain nuclear weapons. He made the remarks at a news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard....

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims. "This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis." Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear...

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims. "This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis." Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear...

Christian believers in Iran face constant surveillance by the Islamic republic, writes Robert Tait At first sight, the house of worship bears all the Persian architectural hallmarks of a classically Iranian mosque. But the religious symbol accompanying the sky-blue dome is a cross, not a minaret, and the holy book sacred to the faithful inside is the Bible rather than the Qur'an. This is the Church of St Simon the Zealot, an Anglican church built in the late 1930s by an English missionary, Rev Norman Sharp, who went to Iran to spread the Christian faith. Hidden behind a high wall...

A U.S. evangelist who has been declared an “enemy of the state” by Iran has unveiled plans to broadcast special Christmas television programmes into the predominantly Muslim country. “We received word here in our office from within the country, that in the public media inside Iran I have been declared an enemy of the state,” said evangelist Sammy Tippit. “Their view of me, I don't think it can get any worse." According to Tippit, the topic of discussion in the new special programming, which is also to be beamed into India, will be suicide. The programme will combine a scene...

IRAN: New details emerge on house church pastor's murder December 6, 2005 Editor’s Note: VOM contacts in Iran have provided additional information about the martyrdom of house-church pastor Ghorbandordi Tourani. They provided VOM with the following report. One of the cell church leaders in Iran was able to visit Ghorban’s family in Gonbad-e-Kavous early this month. He was not able to visit the family right after Ghorban was killed for security reasons. He was able to learn more information about Ghorban’s martyrdom. On November 15th, one week before his martyrdom, Ghorban received a phone call from the head of religious...

TEHRAN, IRAN -- Western diplomats in the Iranian capital Tehran expressed concern Tuesday, December 6, about reports of growing persecution of Christians in Iran, including the murder of a Protestant house church pastor. "There is consternation," after 50-year old Pastor Ghorban Tori was reportedly stabbed to death November 22, a diplomatic source linked to the Dutch embassy in Tehran told BosNewsLife. It came as new details emerged Tuesday, December 6, surrounding the circumstances of the murder of Tori, a former Muslim whose bleeding body was dropped in front of his home a few hours after the knife attack, BosNewsLife monitored....

An Iranian convert to Christianity was  kidnapped last week from his home in northeastern Iran and  stabbed to death, his bleeding body thrown in front of his home a few  hours later. Ghorban Tori, 50, was pastoring an independent house church of  convert Christians in Gonbad-e-Kavus, a town just east of the Caspian Sea along the Turkmenistan border. Within hours of the November 22 murder,  local secret police arrived at the martyred  pastor’s home, searching for Bibles and other banned Christian books in the  Farsi language. By the end of the following day, the secret police had  also raided the houses of all other known Christian believers in...

Christians in Iran, especially converts from Islam, have experienced growing persecution from the government since the new Iranian President was installed, according to reports. The recent wave of persecution traces back to the kidnapping and stabbing of an Iranian convert to Christianity named Ghorban Tori on Nov. 22. Since Tori’s death, not only was the church to which he belonged raided, but ten other Christians were arrested in other cities, including the Iranian capital, Tehran, according to Compass Direct. The murdered 50-year-old Tori was a leader of an independent house church of Christian converts in Gonbad-e-Kavus, a town east of...

Christians in Iran, especially converts from Islam, have experienced growing persecution from the government since the new Iranian President was installed, according to reports. The recent wave of persecution traces back to the kidnapping and stabbing of an Iranian convert to Christianity named Ghorban Tori on Nov. 22. Since Tori’s death, not only was the church to which he belonged raided, but ten other Christians were arrested in other cities, including the Iranian capital, Tehran, according to Compass Direct. The murdered 50-year-old Tori was a leader of an independent house church of Christian converts in Gonbad-e-Kavus, a town east of...

(I). Thousands Coming to Know Jesus Christ in Iran:- Missions Network News reports that bombings are rocking Iran days in advance of the presidential race. The explosions have claimed at least nine lives, and have terrorized the rest of the population. But, Evangelist Sammy Tippit says that despite the violence, there's a tremendous hunger among a young, disillusioned population that is embracing the Gospel. "There are literally, thousands upon thousands who are coming to know Jesus Christ there." The country's young population under 35 is marked at 67 million. Many of these young people are disenchanted by the violence in...

ISLAMIC COURT ACQUITS IRANIAN CHRISTIAN May 30 (Compass) — An Islamic court in southern Iran acquitted Christian lay pastor Hamid Pourmand on charges of apostasy and proselytizing two days ago, declaring, "Under sharia (Islamic law), there are no charges against you." During a May 28 court hearing in Bandar-i Bushehr, Pourmand's judge declared he was acquitting Pourmand, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity 25 years ago, because he had "done nothing wrong" according to Islamic law. Pourmand's surprise acquittal in a single hearing was reported yesterday by the Farsi-language ISNA news agency, quoting the jailed Christian's lawyer as its...

Tehran (AsiaNews/Compass) – Hamid Pourmand, a Protestant clergyman who was born a Muslim, was moved from Tehran’s Evin Prison in an armoured car two days ago, May 16, to his home town of Bandar-i Bushehr (southern Iran), where an Islamic court will hear charges of proselytising and apostasy against him. He could get the death penalty and be hanged.Some of Pourmand’s relatives were allowed to briefly see him before his departure, but the prisoner was not permitted to speak with them. Witnesses say however that, gazing at them silently, he mouthed the words, “Please, pray for me.”Reverend Pourmand, who converted...

Tehran (AsiaNews/MEC) - Hamid Pourmand, a lay leader in a church and a convert from Islam, will appear before an Islamic court next week to face charges of apostasy, Christians in Iran have learned. If found guilty Pourmand is likely to face the death penalty. Pourmand is a lay leader in the Assemblies of God church in Bandar-i Bushehr and converted to Christianity in 1980. At the time of his arrest he was a Colonel in the Iranian army. He was arrested September 9, 2004, together with 85 other participants of the annual general conference of denomination. The other Christians...

IRAN (Compass Direct) On February 16th, a military court sentenced Hamid Pourmand, an Assemblies of God lay pastor, to three years in prison for deceiving the armed forces about his faith. Although Pourmand, who converted from Islam to Christianity nearly 25 years ago, had documented proof that the army knew he was a Christian before he was given officer rank, the court ruled the documents were falsified. He faces automatic discharge from the army and forfeits his entire income, pension and housing for his family. His lawyer plans to appeal the case before the Supreme Court and block any efforts...

A Tehran military court sentenced a 47-year-old Assemblies of God lay pastor to a three-year prison term on Wednesday, five months after his arrest with more than 80 other Christian leaders. The verdict came during the second and final session of a military trial that begun in late January. According to Compass News, Hamid Pourmand, a former army colonel who became a Christian nearly 25 years ago, was found guilty of deceiving the Iranian army forces by not declaring that he was a convert from Islam to Christianity when he acquired officer rank. Under the laws of the Islamic Republic...

Lead story - Thursday February 17, 2005 IRAN : GOVERNMENT JAILS CHRISTIAN PASTOR FOR THREE YEARS Military court claims convert’s documents were falsified. Hamid Pourmand with his family February 17 (Compass) -- Yesterday a Tehran military court sentenced Iranian Christian pastor Hamid Pourmand to jail for three years, ordering his immediate transfer to a group prison cell in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. The former army colonel was found guilty of deceiving the Iranian armed forces by not declaring when he acquired officer rank that he was a convert from Islam to Christianity. Under the laws of the Islamic Republic...

A U.S. human-rights group is protesting Iran's imprisonment of an Iranian pastor and former army colonel convicted of not declaring his conversion from Islam to Christianity before he was promoted to the rank of officer. A Tehran military court sentenced Hamid Pourmand, 47, to three years in jail, the maximum penalty, according to a report from the U.S.-based Christian news service Compass Direct.

February 4 (Compass) -- Christian pastor Hamid Pourmand went on trial before a military court in Tehran last week, charged with deceiving the Iranian armed forces about his religion. It was the first time Iranian authorities have produced Pourmand, 47, arrested five months ago when police raided a church conference in Karaj, near Tehran. Although the nine other pastors and 76 laymen detained with him were all released within a few days, the Assemblies of God lay pastor has remained under incommunicado arrest since September 9, 2004. Relatives of the jailed pastor confirmed to Compass yesterday that Pourmand’s wife was...

Iranians are turning in droves to Christ. “This should cause any missiologist to wonder why (so many people from) the nation which had become a model for the rest of the fundamental Muslim world to emulate – the same country that introduced suicide bombing to the world – are now turning to Christ,” said Shah Afshar, Foursquare Regional Coordinator for the Middle East, in an e-mail interview. This phenomenon didn’t take place through the efforts of foreign missionaries, Afshar said, because after the country’s Islamic revolution of the late 1970's, all foreign missionaries were expelled from Iran. Much of the...

Iranians are turning in droves to Christ. "This should cause any missiologist to wonder why (so many people from) the nation which had become a model for the rest of the fundamental Muslim world to emulate – the same country that introduced suicide bombing to the world – are now turning to Christ,"said Shah Afshar, Foursquare Regional Coordinator for the Middle East, in an e-mail interview. This phenomenon didn't take place through the efforts of foreign missionaries, Afshar said, because after the country's Islamic revolution of the late 1970's, all foreign missionaries were expelled from Iran. Much of the evangelism...

AgapePress) - The head of a California-based ministry aimed at reaching Muslims for Christ says the gospel of Jesus Christ is not the only message he takes to millions of people in Iran. The U.S. evangelist, born in Iran, is also preaching the virtues of democracy to people in his native country at every opportunity. Donald Fareed, a former Muslim himself, came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior 14 years ago. He went on to become an ordained minister and the founding pastor of the Bay Area Persian Churches of San Mateo and Santa Clara, California. Fareed also...

Another Iranian Christian pays the ultimate price "Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection... they were stoned; they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword... the world was not worthy of them." --Hebrews 11: 37-38. Iranian Assemblies of God pastor Mohammad Bagher Yusefi has been found dead in a forest near his home city of Sari, the capital of the north western Iranian province Mazandaran. Mohammad Yusefi left his house at 6 o'clock in the morning on Saturday 28th September for prayer and never returned. Later...

The majority of churches in Iran that possess historical and artistic value were built around the eight century A.H. or the 14th century AD, and the period thereafter. Of course, this does not mean that there were no churches existing in the country before that period. During the reign of Shah Abbas, the Safavid king, his sagacious policies caused a sizable number of Armenians from Armenia and Azerbaijan to transfer and settle in Isfahan and other regions of Iran. A place called Jolfa was built at the banks of the Zayande-rud River in Esfahan and became the residence of these...

ISTANBUL, October 6 (Compass) -- Concern is growing among Iran’s evangelical community for the safety of a pastor arrested four weeks ago by the Iranian security police. Iranian authorities have refused to give any reason for the arrest and prolonged detention of Hamid Pourmand, 47, a lay pastor in the Assemblies of God Church. No one has been allowed contact with Pourmand since September 9, when he was arrested along with 85 other evangelical church leaders. However, Compass confirmed today that Pourmand, who is a colonel in the Iranian army, was allowed one very short telephone call to his wife...

Iran: Police raid church, arrest at least 80 leaders! Christians blindfolded, interrogated, 10 pastors still held incommunicado Posted: September 12, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com At least 80 Christian leaders attending the general conference of the Iranian Assemblies of God, being held near Tehran, were arrested and questioned following a police raid three days ago. Ten pastors taken into custody are still being held, and their families are not being allowed to communicate with them. According to Compass Direct News Service, authorities surrounded the denomination's headquarters in Karaj, 20 miles from the capital, on the conference's first day...

At least 80 Christian leaders attending the general conference of the Iranian Assemblies of God, being held near Tehran, were arrested and questioned following a police raid three days ago. Ten pastors taken into custody are still being held, and their families are not being allowed to communicate with them

<p>At least 80 Christian leaders attending the general conference of the Iranian Assemblies of God, being held near Tehran, were arrested and questioned following a police raid three days ago. Ten pastors taken into custody are still being held, and their families are not being allowed to communicate with them. According to Compass Direct News Service, authorities surrounded the denomination's headquarters in Karaj, 20 miles from the capital, on the conference's first day and burst in suddenly, arresting all those present. "The police came from everywhere," one Iranian Christian told Compass Direct, "and there were a lot of them." According to the U.S. State Department's 2003 International Religious Freedom Report, "Christian groups have reported instances of government harassment of churchgoers in Tehran, in particular against worshippers at the Assembly of God congregation in the capitol. Harassment has included conspicuous monitoring outside Christian premises by Revolutionary Guards to discourage Muslims or converts from entering church premises and demands for the presentation of the identity papers of worshippers inside." Indeed, according to a Compass Iranian source, "Every single person present was put under arrest, blindfolded and taken in for interrogation." They were reportedly driven around for several hours with their eyes shielded in order to disorient them before they were questioned. According to reports, the questioning was conducted separately for each of the detainees, and the interrogators revealed extensive personal knowledge of the individuals and their families. Tehran's constitution declares the "official religion of Iran is Islam and the doctrine followed is that of Ja'fari Shi'ism." The government severely restricts freedom of religion, particularly efforts by Christians to evangelize. Since conversion of a Muslim to another faith is considered apostasy under Shari'a law, non-Muslims who proselytize followers of Islam put their own lives at risk. The State Department warns that Tehran "vigilantly enforces its prohibition on proselytizing activities by evangelical Christians by closing evangelical churches and arresting converts. Members of evangelical congregations have been required to carry membership cards, photocopies of which must be provided to the authorities. Worshippers are subject to identity checks by authorities posted outside congregation centers." Iran's theocratic government has also pressured evangelical Christian groups to compile and submit membership lists for their congregations, but this demand has been resisted in the past. The 70 or so Christians released after questioning this weekend were told not to attend church services this weekend, a moot point since their pastors were still being held incommunicado. "There will be no one to preach when the congregations gather for services," Compass Direct's source noted. Six of the detained pastors are ordained and serve in six different cities in Iran. The other four are lay ministers and elders. "This is the biggest crisis for evangelical believers in the country since three Protestant pastors were murdered 10 years ago," another source told Compass. One of those killed, Rev.Haik Hovsepian Mehr, was general secretary of the Assemblies of God in Iran. An outspoken advocate of religious freedom, he was one of a small number of pastors who refused to sign the government's declaration that his denomination would not allow Muslims to enter its churches. Before his disappearance and murder, Rev. Hovsepian-Mehr had written, "If we die or go to jail for our faith, we want the whole Christian world to know what is happening. ... We have nothing else to lose. We have tolerated all these years and kept silent. Nothing has changed. ... Please don't worry about me. I am ready for anything."</p>

Iran Arrests 80 Evangelicals, Amid Fears of New Crackdown on Christians BosNewsLife News Center TEHRAN, IRAN - Iranian police invaded the annual conference of Iran’s Assemblies of God and arrested at least 80 church leaders at the church’s denominational center near Tehran as part of the worst crack down on evangelical believers in a decade, a Christian news agency reported Friday, September 10. Compass news agency said security forces raided the meeting "without warning" in Karaj, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of the capital, after they surrounded the church’s garden property Thursday, September 9. Eyewitnesses were quoted as saying that...

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife) -- Iranian police invaded the annual conference of Iran’s Assemblies of God and arrested at least 80 church leaders at the church’s denominational center near Tehran as part of the worst crack down on evangelical believers in a decade, a Christian news agency reported Friday, September 10. Compass news agency said security forces raided the meeting "without warning" in Karaj, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of the capital, after they surrounded the church’s garden property Thursday, September 9. Eyewitnesses were quoted as saying that all men and women present at the first day of their annual meetings...

Two former Muslims who are now pastors in the United States have separately launched satellite TV ministries that try to reach Muslims in Iran -- a country where it is illegal to evangelize. Their groundbreaking work has resulted in thousands of Iranians coming to Christ -- many of whom become such fervent believers that they risk their lives to share the gospel in the Islamic republic. "The religion of Islam has held a grip on this land for over 1,500 years," said Reza Safa, 43, pastor of Fishermen's House Church in Tulsa, Okla., and founder of Nejat Christian satellite TV...

Despite tragedy and persecution, a vibrant underground church is growing in Iran. After an earthquake on Dec. 26 devastated Bam and buried thousands of people under the rubble of their homes, Western churches sent relief to the ancient Iranian city. With the situation in Bam opening doors previously shut, missions leaders believe the compassionate response of the worldwide church to the disaster could be a catalyst for the nation's explosive church growth. Iran is located in the biblical region of ancient Persia -- the home of such Bible heroes as Nehemiah, Esther and Daniel. Acts 2 lists Elamites, Parthians and...

TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Iranian Christians turned out massively at the polling stations here Friday morning to cast their votes for the 7th Parliamentary (Majlis) elections. An IRNA reporter from Saint Sarkisyan Church here in Tehran reported that Iranian Christians turned out at the polling stations to cast their votes to choose their three representatives. Christians throughout the country, along with their Muslim countrymen, took part in the elections to choose their three representatives at the 7th term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis). Altogether religious minorities in Iran are to choose five Majlis deputies, the others two will be elected...