An appeals court in Iran has upheld the prison sentences of five Christian converts convicted of “propaganda” related to their Christian activities, according to organizations monitoring the country.
Branch 36 of the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 upheld the prison sentences of eight years and one month for each of the five converts from Islam – seven years and six months for “educational and propaganda activities that are contrary to and disruptive of Islamic law, with ties to abroad,” and seven months for “propaganda against the system,” according to Mohabat News.
Sentenced were Morteza (Calvin) Faghanpour Sasi, Abolfazl (Benyamin) Ahmadzadeh Khajani, Hesameddin (Yahya) Mohammad Junaidi and two others whose names were withheld. Sasi received an additional 17 months in prison for “insulting the leadership,” according to Mohabat.
“The court stated that the reasons for confirming this verdict were reports from the Ministry of Intelligence, statements from the defendants, and case documents, citing cases such as ‘holding house churches,’ ‘propagating and promoting Christianity,’ ‘participating in a virtual university located abroad,’ ‘traveling to Turkey to participate in Christian training courses,’ and ‘recruiting people to Christianity,’” Mohabat reported.
The Christians had been convicted in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Varamin on July 15 under Articles 500, 500-bis and 514 of the Islamic Penal Code after their arrests at their homes and workplaces in the cities of Varamin and Pishva, just south of Tehran, according to Mohabat.
The outlet reported that they had been held in Evin Prison for one and six months before being released on bail for the equivalent of up to $30,000 USD each.
The case of Sasi has been referred to Branch 104 of Varamin County Criminal Court 2, under Judge Mohammad Hossein Esmail Moreneh, on charges of blasphemy, with a hearing scheduled for Sunday (Oct. 5), the news site noted.
Advocacy group Article 18 reported that at least one of the Christians was tortured physically.
The Iranian government has closed Persian-language churches and harassed Christians by attacking their homes and house churches, Mohabat stated. Christians are routinely accused of promoting “Zionist Christianity,” “membership in groups opposed to the regime” to “disturb national security,” and “attracting Muslims to house churches.”
“Government courts have repeatedly imprisoned Christians on such charges without providing evidence or documentation,” Mohabat reported.
Islamic courts handed down six times more prison time to persecuted Christians in 2024 than the previous year, according to Article 18. Iranian courts last year sentenced 96 Christians across the country to 263 years in prison for practicing their faith – compared with 22 Christians sentenced to a total of 43 years in 2023, the group stated in its annual report.
The increase in years of prison happened largely as cases from a 2023 crackdown on home churches finally worked their way through the Iranian legal system at the same time courts handed down lengthy sentences to five Christians, according to the report, entitled, “The Tip of the Iceberg.” Four converts were sentenced to 10 years each in prison for “engaging in missionary activities” and “conducting activities against national security.” Another Christian was given a 15-year prison sentence for “undermining national security and promoting Zionist Christianity.”
At least 139 Christians were arrested last year on issues related to their faith. Those arrested increasingly found themselves charged under Article 500, amended in 2021 to include longer prison sentences. The Iranian judicial system also handed down nearly $800,000 in fines in an attempt break the backs of “dissident” church groups, according to the report.
Article 18 cautioned that religious freedom violations in Iran are actually much greater than is publicly known. Article 18 and other advocacy groups analyzed data following the release of more than 3 million case files from the Tehran judiciary that were heard between 2008 and 2023. The files were obtained and released in 2024 by the “hacktivist” group Edalat-e Ali.
The Iranian government has long denied persecution of Christians as it portrays itself as a respectable player on the world stage, and the analysis of the judicial files is seen as a “smoking gun” to be used against the regime’s claims.
Iran ranked ninth on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL) of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The report noted that despite persecution, “the church in Iran is growing steadily.”