Free Republic

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...