Seven new Christian converts have recently been arrested in Tehran and Karaj. So far, there is no information on the status of the converts, according to Human Rights Reporters in Iran.
Human Rights Watch has reported that on December 20, 2017, Security forces arrested Farhad Karimi, Vahid Aboulghasemi and Amir Reza Kamali, the Tehran-based new Christian converts, in North Tehran and West Tehran. In addition, these forces interrogated the converts and raided their homes.
According to this report, there is no information on the status of Karimi, Aboulghasemi and Kamali; it is not clear where they have been kept and how they have been treated.
According to reports, on Tuesday night, December 12, 2017, security forces arrested Milad Goudarzi, Alireza Nourmohammadi, Shahab Shahi, and Amin Khaki, the new Christian converts, when they were performing religious rituals in their homes. Security forces also sealed the workplaces of at least three of them. Thus far, there is no information on their status and where they have been confined.
In July 2017, Amin Khaki was summoned to appear before the intelligent service office located in Karaj. In addition, this new Christian convert was arrested with six other converts in 2013.
Despite assertions by government officials that Christians enjoy full rights as citizens of Iran, the Christian community—particularly Evangelicals and Protestant communities, which are seen as encouraging conversion to Christianity—suffers severe and widespread discrimination and persecution in Iran, as documented in the Campaign’s report, The Cost of Faith: Persecution of Christian Protestants and Converts in Iran.
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