{"id":1583,"date":"2013-05-27T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T07:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/"},"modified":"2024-03-04T15:34:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T14:34:41","slug":"pastor-arrested-tehran-irans-largest-protestant-church-closed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor arrested in Tehran: Iran's largest Protestant church closed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Robert Asserian, an assistant pastor at the Assemblies of God church in Tehran, was arrested on May 21. The pastor is being held in Evin Prison, but it is not known how he is doing or what the charges against him are. Since his arrest, a sign has been posted on the front door of the church stating that the church is \"closed for renovation\". Since there is no need for repairs to the building, it appears that the church has been closed by the authorities.<\/p>\n

How to close a church in Iran - the sign says:\u00a0\"This church is closed for essential repairs. Please do not enter\"<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"108\"<\/a> On the morning of May 21, intelligence agents searched Pastor Asserian's home and confiscated some of his belongings. At the same time, a group of agents burst into the church with a warrant for Pastor Asserian's arrest issued by a prosecutor at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The moment the pastor arrived at the church to lead a monthly prayer meeting, he was detained.<\/p>\n

Pastor Robert Asserian<\/em><\/p>\n

The detained pastor is a trained psychologist and theologian with an Armenian background. He has been part of the leadership of the Assemblies of God church in Tehran for over 25 years and is known as a very active, wise and humble leader. In 2003, he was one of a group of 12 Iranian Assemblies of God pastors who were arrested and detained during a leadership conference. Before they were released, pressure was put on the leaders to stop evangelizing. Since 2003, surveillance and repression of churches has increased and most Iranian Christians have started meeting in private homes instead.<\/p>\n

A close friend of Pastor Asserian who has served in the church with him for many years and who wishes to remain anonymous, said: \"We have known this was coming for a very long time. The incident was unfortunately 100 % foreseeable: the church knew it was only a matter of time before something like this would happen. I would like to ask the church around the world to pray for Pastor Asserian. He is a much loved pastor, husband and father of two young sons. Please also pray for the whole church during this difficult time. I would like the international community to hold the Iranian authorities accountable for this incident, which is just one example of the regime's systematic and gross abuse of freedom in Iran.\"<\/p>\n

In the time leading up to the incident, the church's management had been under enormous pressure from the authorities to close down, and they pushed particularly hard in 2013. The management had been informed that they were no longer allowed to hold services in Persian languages, even though 95 % of the congregation only speak Persian. In October 2009, the church was then forced to stop their Persian-language Friday services in an attempt by the authorities to stem the flow of people of Muslim background visiting the church. Until recently, the church had continued with its other activities and services, despite increased pressure and threats.<\/p>\n

With presidential elections due within the next month, Iranian authorities are cracking down on religious minorities and others they perceive as a threat.<\/p>\n

Source: Danish European Mission's partner Elam Ministries<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Close friend of the pastor: \"It was only a matter of time\".<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"gamle_kategorier":[],"land":[74],"class_list":["post-1583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ikke-kategoriseret","land-iran","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket | Dansk Europamission<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arrested-tehran-irans-largest-protestant-church-closed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket | Dansk Europamission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"N\u00e6r ven af pastoren: "Det var kun et sp\u00f8rgsm\u00e5l om tid".\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arrested-tehran-irans-largest-protestant-church-closed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dansk Europamission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-27T07:00:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-04T14:34:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/tehran-church.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Redaktionen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Redaktionen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Redaktionen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/879d3e9c4ed1ea6e112e09b0dc37b151\"},\"headline\":\"Pastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-27T07:00:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-04T14:34:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":120,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/tehran-church.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ikke-kategoriseret\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket | Dansk Europamission\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/tehran-church.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-27T07:00:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-04T14:34:41+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/tehran-church.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/tehran-church.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/2013\\\/05\\\/27\\\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Hjem\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dansk Europamission\",\"description\":\"Hj\u00e6lp til forfulgte kristne - evangeliet til un\u00e5ede\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dansk Europamission\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Logo-Dansk-Europamission.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Logo-Dansk-Europamission.svg\",\"caption\":\"Dansk Europamission\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/forfulgtekristne.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/879d3e9c4ed1ea6e112e09b0dc37b151\",\"name\":\"Redaktionen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a6b60e445b69cc8346c47c80e729c817b4e3cc972af3c9a7b06218e97123bbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a6b60e445b69cc8346c47c80e729c817b4e3cc972af3c9a7b06218e97123bbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a6b60e445b69cc8346c47c80e729c817b4e3cc972af3c9a7b06218e97123bbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Redaktionen\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pastor arrested in Tehran: Iran's largest Protestant church closed | Danish European Mission","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arrested-tehran-irans-largest-protestant-church-closed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket | Dansk Europamission","og_description":"N\u00e6r ven af pastoren: "Det var kun et sp\u00f8rgsm\u00e5l om tid".","og_url":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arrested-tehran-irans-largest-protestant-church-closed\/","og_site_name":"Dansk Europamission","article_published_time":"2013-05-27T07:00:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-04T14:34:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/tehran-church.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Redaktionen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Redaktionen","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/"},"author":{"name":"Redaktionen","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/879d3e9c4ed1ea6e112e09b0dc37b151"},"headline":"Pastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket","datePublished":"2013-05-27T07:00:34+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-04T14:34:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/"},"wordCount":120,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/tehran-church.jpg","articleSection":["Ikke-kategoriseret"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/","url":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/","name":"Pastor arrested in Tehran: Iran's largest Protestant church closed | Danish European Mission","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/tehran-church.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-27T07:00:34+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-04T14:34:41+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/tehran-church.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/tehran-church.jpg","width":960,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/2013\/05\/27\/pastor-arresteret-teheran-irans-storste-protestantiske-kirke-lukket\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Hjem","item":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pastor arresteret i Teheran: Irans st\u00f8rste protestantiske kirke lukket"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/","name":"Mission Possible","description":"Helping persecuted Christians - the gospel to the unreached","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#organization","name":"Mission Possible","url":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Logo-Dansk-Europamission.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Logo-Dansk-Europamission.svg","caption":"Dansk Europamission"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/879d3e9c4ed1ea6e112e09b0dc37b151","name":"The editorial team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a6b60e445b69cc8346c47c80e729c817b4e3cc972af3c9a7b06218e97123bbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a6b60e445b69cc8346c47c80e729c817b4e3cc972af3c9a7b06218e97123bbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a6b60e445b69cc8346c47c80e729c817b4e3cc972af3c9a7b06218e97123bbb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Redaktionen"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6319,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions\/6319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"gamle_kategorier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gamle_kategorier?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"land","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forfulgtekristne.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/land?post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}