Authorities in Iran have ordered the closure of a church in the capital Tehran. This comes as the government has launched a campaign against the few recognized churches that offer services in Farsi, according to a human rights group.
The order came from Iran's Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Service on Tuesday, June 5. The Revolutionary Guard, also known as Sepah, is known for its military aggression.
"Unfortunately, it is now official that the church in Janat-Abad has been ordered to close," said Monsour Borji, an Iranian Christian and advocate of the Article 18 rights initiative. "Unless the order is overturned, there will be no meeting in the church here on Sunday the 10th."
Read more about the work for persecuted Christians in Iran here...
Article 18 is a London-based initiative started by the United Council of Iranian Churches (Hamgaam), with the aim of defending and spreading religious freedom in Iran. Hamgaam consists of Christian Iranian churches in Europe.
The church in Tehran's northwestern district, Janat-Abad, belongs to the Assemblies of God (AOG) denomination. It was originally located in Karaj, about 20 km west of Tehran, but authorities shut it down a few years ago, Borji told Compass.
Church leaders had negotiated with the authorities for the right to use some buildings they had purchased to serve the Assyrian Christian congregants living in western Tehran. But over time, the number of Iranians from Farsi-speaking Muslim families attending the church increased, attracting the attention of the authorities.
More than 70 Christians gather every Sunday to worship in Farsi in Janat-Abad. "Due to the increasing number of Farsi-speaking believers - mainly from a Muslim background - the authorities saw this as a problem and the church was told to close," he said.
After twenty years of intense pressure from the authorities to provide a list of church members, the leaders of the AOG Central Church of Tehran decided last month to ask church members to voluntarily provide their names and ID numbers. Sources say the idea behind this is to reduce the participation of converts from Islam to Christianity and to improve the ability to monitor church members. Almost all members at the church's two Sunday services are from Muslim families. Both services are held in Farsi.
Borji said that some of the members had given the information the month before and the authorities had already used it to put pressure on the Christians, which scared those who had not yet given the information.
"Some have been registered, but not all. Especially because some members have experienced problems at their workplaces and the university after providing their information," said Borji.
One university student had been barred from taking a final exam and another member had been fired from his job.
When church members heard about it, some felt they faced a moral dilemma about whether it would be a denial of Christ if they failed to reveal their faith by registering.
In February, Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter Evangelical Church were ordered to close their Friday services. These two churches were the last two authorized churches offering services in Farsi on Fridays in Tehran. However, their Sunday services continue. These two, along with the AOG Central Church of Tehran, will be the only three churches with Farsi services if the church in Janat-Abad is closed.
"If this aggressive campaign against evangelical Christianity does not stop, it is only a matter of time before all Farsi-language churches are forced to close," said Borji.
Last month, Merhdad Sajadi, one of the elders of Immanuel Church in Tehran, and his wife, Forough Dashtiani, were arrested, according to Mohabat News. Mohabat and other news agencies have reported a crackdown on Christians in recent months. Middle Eastern Concern has reported that "The government's campaign of intimidation against Christians and churches continues," noting that authorities are targeting house churches as well as "the small number of officially recognized Protestant churches that remain."
Read more about the work for persecuted Christians in Iran here...
As an Islamic republic, Iran views Christians, and especially Christian converts, as enemies of the state and as mercenaries of the West out to undermine the government. The authorities associate Christianity with certain ethnic minorities in Iran - Armenians and Assyrians - and cannot tolerate the idea of a Farsi-language church. Converts from Islam are forced to meet secretly in their homes and have formed an underground church of house churches. There are no figures on how many Iranians have left Islam and converted to Christianity.
On behalf of Hamgaam, Borji asked the international community to speak up for the persecuted in Iran. "We ask for the support and solidarity of all Iranians as well as the international community to put an end to these oppressive methods aimed at stifling the church," Borji said.
More than 20 believers are currently in prison in Iran for their Christian faith, according to Middle Eastern Concern. Five of these are in Tehran, five in Shiraz, three in Kermanshah and at least two in Ishafan. Five others were released in Ishafan in early May, including Hekmat Salimi, a leader from St Luke's Anglican Church.
Noorallah Qabitizade from Ahwaz and Farshid Fathi, who is in Evin prison in Tehran, have been imprisoned since December 2010.
Yousef Nadarkhani from the Church of Iran has been imprisoned since October 2009 and still has a death sentence hanging over his head. Behnam Irani from the same church has been imprisoned in Karaj since May 2011 and has health problems.
Source: Compass Direct News