There was hope among Iranian Christians that the mass protests earlier in 2018 could effect change for them, but they continue to be harassed and imprisoned on spurious charges.
An Iranian convert to Christianity, Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who recently lost his appeal against a ten-year sentence for ‘missionary activities’, was reportedly moved to the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran, the same prison where two other Christians, Majidreza Souzanchi Kushani and Fatimeh Mohammadi (both members of the self-styled Church of Iran), have also been held since their arrest on 17 November 2017.
Evangelicals and security
According to the advocacy group Middle East Concern, Kushani was charged with ‘disrupting national security’ by being a member of an evangelical Christian group, for which he could receive a prison sentence of between two and ten years.
