Pastor Robert Asserian of the Assemblies of God Church in Iran's capital Tehran continues to be held in Evin Prison. He was arrested on May 21 and his church was closed by the authorities. In fact, he is being held hostage as authorities are considering releasing four Christians from the city of Ahvaz if Pastor Robert agrees to stop holding services in Farsi and conduct them exclusively in Armenian. The four Ahvaz Christians are a pastoral couple, Farhad and Shahnaz, and two other church members, Davoud and Naser. They were sentenced to one year in prison after their church was closed during a raid around Christmas 2011. The four began serving their sentences on May 1 this year.
The Christian minorities in Iran are primarily Armenians and Assyrians, and they have extensive freedom to exist and hold church services and other activities, as long as it is in their national language and not in the country's official language, Farsi. However, many evangelical churches have also held services in Farsi for many years, but the authorities are increasingly trying to put a stop to this phenomenon. The reason is that Farsi services attract a number of non-Christians, which is a thorn in the side of the authorities.
Please continue to pray for Pastor Robert, Pastor Farshid, Pastor Saeed Abedini, Pastor Behnam, Pastors Farhad and Shahnaz, Davoud, Naser and all others imprisoned for their faith in Iran.
