Christians
Christian World News – Iran’s Crackdown
Christian World news (15.08.2025)
Christian ministry to Iran reports vibrant underground church amid persecution
Baptist press (12.08.2025) – Amir, an underground church leader in Iran, told Iran Alive Ministries of being stopped at a police checkpoint with dozens of Bibles in tow, a crime punishable by imprisonment and death.
Police confiscated the Bibles but let Amir go free. When he arrived the next evening at the house church that expected the Bibles, the books were already there, delivered by none other than the police official who had confiscated them.
“He (the police official) divulged that he is a Christian,” Iran Alive Ministries founder Hormoz Shariat told Baptist Press of the event that happened earlier this year. “And he said, ‘Look at the table. The books I got from you yesterday are on the table and they are being handed to the house church members.’”
Rights experts urge Iran to end ‘systematic persecution’ of religious minorities
UN news (12.08.2025) – The experts said they are deeply concerned at the increasing arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of members of the Baha’i faith, as well as the destruction or confiscation of their properties, “in what bears all the signs of a policy of systematic persecution”.
These acts were not isolated, they added, but formed part of a broader policy to target any dissenting belief or religious practice, including Christian converts, Gonabadi dervishes and atheists.
Baha’is
The exile sentence of Ardeshir Fanaeyan, a Baha’i citizen, was carried out
Iran Press Watch (28.08.2025) – Today, Ardeshir Fanaeyan, a Baha’i citizen from Semnan, was transferred to Khash County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province to begin serving his one-year exile. Mr. Fanaeyan had been released from Semnan Prison in March 2025 after completing his prison sentence.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Mr. Fanaeyan traveled to Khash on Saturday, August 2, 2025, to carry out the remainder of his sentence. A source close to the family confirmed that his wife and two-year-old child have also accompanied him.
Iran intensifies crackdown on Baha’i religious minority
Iran Press Watch (28.08.2025) – Ten Baha’i women residing in Isfahan whose assets have been confiscated by text and are already in prison
The Islamic Republic has stepped up its systematic persecution of Iran’s Baha’i religious minority.
Authorities of the clerical regime are sending text messages ordering Baha’is to leave places they have owned for decades.
In one case, more than 20 Baha’is in central Isfahan province face the seizure of their homes, assets and vehicles solely because of their faith.
Iran is using article 49 of its constitution – meant to target illegally obtained property – to confiscate legally owned assets without evidence or due process.
IRGC Raids 10 Baha’i homes in Central Iran
Iran Press Watch (28.08.2025) – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence agents raided 10 Baha’i homes and businesses in Isfahan on Wednesday, confiscating property and threatening residents without warrants.
The raids targeted Navid Mogharebin, Saeed Mogharebin, Manouchehr Rezaei, Sepehr and Shahab Torabi, Babak Babakan, Behnam Janmiyan, Peyman Makhmoor, Kourosh Sadeghi, and Omid Firouzmandi.
Agents first searched seven businesses owned by Baha’i adherents before proceeding to raid their homes. Three neighbors who are also Baha’i were later targeted.
Confiscation by text message: two dozen Baha’is face property confiscations in Isfahan
Iran press Watch (28.08.2025) – Over 20 Baha’is in Isfahan are facing the confiscation of their homes, assets, and even vehicles, solely because of their faith. Authorities in Isfahan are invoking and grossly misusing Article 49 of the Iranian Constitution—a provision meant to recover property derived by illicit means—to seize the lawful property, freeze bank accounts, and block routine transactions of Baha’i citizens, without evidence, due process, or transparency. Many of the Baha’is were informed of these confiscations simply by an SMS, outside of any formal legal due process.
Appeals court upholds 38 years and 11 months of imprisonment for six Baha’i women
Iran Press Watch (28.08.2025) – The prison sentences of six Baha’i women residing in Hamedan, have been fully upheld by Branch 11 of the Hamedan Appeals Court. In the initial stage, they had been sentenced by the Hamedan Revolutionary Court to a combined total of 38 years and 11 months in prison.
The sentences of Neda Mohebi, Atefeh Zahedi, Farideh Ayoubi, Noora Ayoubi, Zarrindokht Ahadzadeh, and Zhaleh Rezaei were upheld on August 12 by Branch 11 of the Hamedan Appeals Court. The ruling was issued without scheduling a hearing, without informing the lawyers about a session, and under the advisement of Bahram Karari and Morteza Ramezani. Membership in the Baha’i community and “teaching and propagating against Sharia” were among the charges brought against them.
Shahram Fallah, Baha’i citizen, arrested in Kerman
Iran Press Watch (28.08.2025) – On the evening of Monday, August 18, 2025, Shahram Fallah, a 64-year-old Baha’i citizen of Kerman, was arrested at his home by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and transferred to that agency’s detention facility.
A source close to the family told HRANA: “Intelligence agents in Kerman came to Mr. Fallah’s home that evening and arrested him while several guests were present. They confiscated the mobile phones of family members and guests, along with a number of Mr. Fallah’s religious books and images. Since his arrest, he has not contacted his family.”
Baha’i Citizen Keyhan Maghsoudi held in incommunicado detention after over two months
Iran Press watch (28.08.2025) – Keyhan Maghsoudi, a Baha’i citizen from Urmia, was arrested by security forces in June 2025. After undergoing interrogation, he was transferred to Urmia Prison. In recent days, however, he has once again been moved to a security detention facility.
On Friday, June 20, 2025, amid the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, Maghsoudi was arrested by security forces at his workplace. He was initially taken to a security detention center in Urmia and, after a period of interrogation, transferred to Urmia Prison. Recently, he was returned from the prison to an undisclosed security facility, leaving his family with no information about his condition or whereabouts.
