As Iran frees American Pastor, Persecution of Iranian Christians Rages On

While a high-profile Christian pastor saw his freedom as part of Iran's recent release of five American prisoners, the persecution of Christians in Iran rages on with no end in sight and no indication that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will prioritize the release of about 100 Christians who have been imprisoned for believing in a faith other than Islam. 

On Jan. 16, Iran freed four Americans in a prisoner swap and a fifth in a separate release, in transactions that most reports linked to the implementation of last summers nuclear deal. Among the newly released Americans was Pastor Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned for three and a half years in Iran and received a groundswell of global support during that time, including legal aid from the American Center for Law and Justice as well as the advocacy of famed pastors such as Franklin Graham. Abedini had been arrested by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while visiting relatives and building an orphanage.

While Abedinis long-awaited release brings joyous relief to many Christian communities around the world, there are still scores of Iranian Christians who are arbitrarily imprisoned by the Islamic Republic and face the prospect of execution or torture.

"While Iranian officials allowed Pastor Abedini to board the plane and put this horrible ordeal behind him, they continue to hold dozens of Iranian Christians on vague and overly broad national security charges like propaganda against the system. These detentions clearly violate not only Irans obligations under international law, but their own constitution," Heiner Bielefeldt, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said in a statement.

Christians in Iran have been persecuted on various fronts since the 1979 rise of the countrys theocratic Shi'a Muslim government, whose primary goal is to root out all Western influences that threaten Islamic identity. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005, the threat of death, lashing, and torture intensified for Christians. Under Rouhanis leadership, the U.N. has reported that religious oppression is even greater than it was under Ahmadinejad. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in 2010 that Irans underground house churches "threaten the Islamic faith and deceive young Muslims."

Open Doors UK, a British organization supporting the persecuted Christian church in more than 50 countries, estimates that there are 475,000 Christians living in Iran. Others say it is a challenge to determine precise figures.

"There are 300,000 to 400,000 Christians currently living in Iran, with an additional unconfirmed number of converts from a Muslim background living in secrecy. Its difficult to obtain more precise numbers as access into Iran for human rights organizations is almost entirely closed off," Isaac Six, the advocacy director of International Christian Concern (ICC), told JNS.org.

ICC, which seeks to combat the persecution of Christians, said there are "approximately 100 Iranian Christians imprisoned or on trial because of their religious affiliation. We also just received unconfirmed reports this week of another 24 Christians being detained, which may bring the total higher."

Another ministry specifically dedicated to helping the church in Iran confirmed to JNS.org that the arbitrary arrests of Iranian Christians continue, yet the size of the countrys Christian population is increasing despite the fierce persecution.

"We are aware of 95 Christians in prison at present. There were more arrests over the Christmas period. History shows us that as the church is persecuted, it grows," said Andy Kittow, Coordinator for Elam Ministries.

According to various figures, Christianity remains the fastest-growing religion in Iran and the second-largest non-Muslim religion there.

The Iranian churchs growth, Elam states on its website, can be attributed to factors such as better-trained leaders, more than a million bibles that have been distributed to Iranians since 2003, the prevalence of underground house churches, and access to Christian TV through satellite technology (even though satellite dishes are banned by Iran).

The Iranian regime will sometimes levy criminal charges against Christians relating to the very factors that have aided the churchs growth, such as the use of religious propaganda and forming house churches that exceed the maximum allowance of 12 people. But usually, a typical conviction in Iran will imprison Christians on crimes against national security, espionage, or trying to overthrow the government. It is widely known that these charges are euphemisms for committing the apostasy of leaving Islam to become a Christian. 

"Iran has been escalating its internal persecution of Christians in recent months. The growing numbers of Iranians rejecting Islam and turning to Christianity is considered a serious political threat by the state. This is a symptom of the widespread disillusionment and sense of hopelessness felt by many Iranians after 37 years of the Iranian Revolution," Rev. Mark Durie, a human rights activist and research fellow with the Middle East Forum think tank, told JNS.org.

The "political threat" Durie mentioned is motivated by the Iranian regimes apocalyptic belief that it must kill all infidels, a belief embodied by Iranian leaders promotion of slogans such as Death to Israel and Death to America. For Iran, this will usher in the appearance of their Mahdi (Messiah) on Earth, and the Mahdi will establish a global Islamic caliphate.

Joel C. Rosenberg, an evangelical Christian political strategist and best-selling author, has been particularly vocal about Irans mindset on the persecution of Christians and other non-Muslims.

"ISIS wants to commit genocide now to build a caliphate now. Iran is a longer-term player, they invented chess. [Iran says,] 'No, we dont build a caliphate now, you build a pathway to nuclear weapons now, then when you have an arsenal, then you can start a war to build a caliphate to kill millions, and not just thousands'...thats their plan. Its a different strategy, but the same objective, Rosenberg recently told a packed evangelical church in Austin, Texas.

Rosenberg added that generally, the predominantly-Muslim Iranian people do not support much of the Iranian government's policy.

"The people of Iran are being held hostage by a regime thats evil... Most Iranians are against their government, but theres nothing they can do, its a tyranny&They have hanged and executed almost 1,000 people just in the past year," he said.

Polls by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans show that while a majority of Iranian Americans are concerned about human rights and democracy in Iran, the percentage of Iranian Americans who prioritize the issue fell almost 20 percent from 2009 to 2015. In addition, 65 percent of respondents in the Public Affairs Alliances 2015 poll approved of world powers nuclear deal with Iran, mostly in hopes that the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran would improve economic conditions for the Iranian population.

"The plummeting price of oil has made the financial situation of the Iranian government even more difficult. Januarys prisoner exchange has taken place in the context of pressure on Iran to address its economic problems, and to regain more than $50 billion of frozen assets. The nuclear deal and the prisoner exchange both seek to address the same fundamental issue of gaining access to finance and global trade," Rev. Durie told JNS.org.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps controls most of the Iranian economy, which means the frozen assets and investments "are in danger of being soaked up by the bloated and inefficient state sector," rendering President Rouhani incapable of fixing the economy, Elam Ministries reported on its website.

In addition to the expectation that the nuclear deal will help boost Irans economy, some see the agreement as a watershed moment that opens the door for global leaders and advocacy groups to increase pressure on Rouhani to not only release a handful of prisoners, but fundamentally change Irans abusive policies toward Christians and other minority groups.

"I urge Iran to spare no effort in addressing long-standing human rights concerns repeatedly raised by the U.N. human rights mechanisms, especially the alarming surge in executions this past year, increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assemblies, womens rights, discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, and the ongoing prosecution of journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders," the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, said in a statement.

Posted with permission from JNS.org