A court on appeal upheld decades-long prison sentences for five defendants. Their “crimes” included attending services in house churches, taking online faith courses etc.
Newsroom (03/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) An appeals court in Tehran has upheld prison sentences totaling more than 41 years for five Iranian converts to Christianity, intensifying a crackdown on religious minorities that human rights groups describe as systematic persecution. The convictions, based on charges of proselytism and propaganda against the state, highlight the Islamic Republic’s escalating targeting of adult converts from Islam, often under vague national security pretexts.
On September 17, Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals confirmed the sentences handed down in July by the Varamin Revolutionary Court, according to a report from the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Among the defendants, Hessamuddin Mohammad Junaidi and Abolfazl Ahmadzadeh-Khajani, along with two others who requested anonymity, each received eight years and one month in prison. Morteza Faghanpour Saasi, the fifth defendant, was sentenced to eight years and 11 months—a term comprising seven years and six months for “educational and proselytizing activities that are deviant, contrary, and detrimental to Islamic law (Sharia) in connection with contacts abroad,” seven months for propaganda against the regime, and 17 months for insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The other four defendants were each given seven years and six months for proselytism, plus seven months for anti-regime propaganda. The initial verdicts stemmed from allegations including the illegal distribution of Christian religious books, participation in online faith-building programs hosted abroad, and the publication of a caricature of Khamenei on social media. A separate contempt charge has been lodged against the group, with a hearing set for October 7 at Branch 104 of the Varamin Criminal Court Two.
The charges invoke Articles 500 bis, 500, and 514 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which criminalize actions deemed to undermine national integrity or propagate against the state. Prosecutors cited the defendants’ involvement in Christian education courses in Turkey, attendance at house church services, and other online religious activities as evidence. “These are not crimes; they are expressions of faith,” said an Article 18 spokesperson, a U.K.-based advocacy group focused on Iranian Christians, emphasizing that such gatherings are common among converts who face severe restrictions on worship.
Faghanpour Saasi’s case underscores the brutality often accompanying these arrests. Detained at his workplace on June 12, the 30-something father of two was transferred to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where authorities raided his home, seizing his Bible, religious images, and cellphone. During 20 days in Section 209—a Ministry of Intelligence facility—he endured torture and abuse, including beatings and psychological pressure to extract confessions, according to Article 18 sources. Released on bail in July but rearrested pending appeal, Faghanpour Saasi now faces the full weight of his sentence.
This ruling is part of a broader pattern of repression against Iran’s estimated 1 million Christian converts, the majority of whom are former Muslims branded as apostates under Sharia law. While the regime officially recognizes historic Armenian and Chaldean communities—numbering around 120,000—converts are denied basic rights, including access to Persian-language Bibles or public evangelism. Pastors and lay believers alike have been charged with “crimes against national security,” leading to raids, asset seizures, and indefinite detentions.
Iran ranks ninth on Open Doors International’s 2025 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution, behind only nations like North Korea and Somalia. The group’s annual report documents over 300 arrests of Christians in Iran last year alone, with converts bearing the brunt due to their perceived threat to the theocratic regime’s ideological control.
The judiciary’s actions coincide with a propaganda offensive. In August, state broadcaster IRIB aired a documentary-style segment on its evening news, featuring coerced confessions from several converts. Presented by Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, a prominent IRIB journalist with documented ties to security agencies, the program labeled the individuals as “evangelists” colluding with foreign powers and posing a national security risk. Human rights monitors, including HRANA, condemned the broadcast as a tool to justify fabricated cases and intimidate the community, drawing parallels to Soviet-era show trials.
As the October 7 hearing approaches, advocates warn of further escalations. “This is not isolated—it’s a sustained campaign to erase independent faith from Iranian society,” the Article 18 spokesperson told reporters. With international calls for sanctions growing, the convictions serve as a stark reminder of Iran’s precarious standing on religious freedom, where belief alone can condemn one to years behind bars.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from asianews.it
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