Iran’s Court of Appeals has upheld the sentences for five Christian converts convicted of “propaganda” related to Christian activities, according to an organisation monitoring the country.
On September 16, Branch 36 of the Tehran State Court of Appeals supported an eight-year and one-month prison sentence for each of the five converts from Islam.
Proofed were Morteza (Kalvin) Faganpur Sasi, Abolfazur (Benyamin) Ahmazzade Kajani, Hezameddin (Yahya) Mohammad Junaidi and two others named. According to Mohabat, Sasi was added to the prison for another 17 months in prison to “shaming leadership.”
“The court said the reasons for confirming this verdict are from statements from Intelligence Ministry, the defendants, and reports from litigation documents cited cases such as “hosted house churches” and “promoting and promoting Christianity.”
According to Mobato, the Christian was convicted under Article 514 of the Islamic Penal Code on July 15, after being arrested under Article 500, 500 Biss of the Islamic Penal Code on July 15, and under Article 514 and 514 of the Islamic Penal Code.
The outlet reported that they had been held in prison for one and six months before they were released on bail, respectively, before being released on bail for up to USD 30,000, respectively.
The SASI case has been referred to branch 104 of Balamin County Criminal Court 2 under Judge Mohammad Hossein Esmail Morene on the charges of the blasphemy Asp, a hearing scheduled for Sunday (October 5th) states.
Article 18 of the Advocacy Group reported that at least one Christian was physically tortured.
The Iranian government harassed Christians by shutting down Persian churches and attacking their homes and home churches, Mobato said. Christians are routinely accused of promoting “Zionist Christianity,” “membership of groups opposing the regime” as “disturbing national security” and “attracting Muslims to the churches of their homes.”
“The government courts repeatedly imprisoned Christians for such charges without providing evidence or documents,” Mohabat reported.
According to Article 18, the Islamic Court handed over six times the prison time by persecuting Christians in 2024 than 2024. Last year, Iranian courts sentenced 96 Christians across the country to 263 years in prison for practicing their faith, compared to 22-year Christians who were sentenced to a total of 43 years in 2023.
The long-standing increase in prisons came mostly as cases from the 2023 crackdown on their hometown churches finally passed through Iran’s legal system, and handed over a long sentence to five Christians, according to a report entitled “The Tier of Iceberg.” The four converts were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for “engaging in missionary activities” and “implementing activities on national security.” Another Christian was given 15 years in prison to “harm national security and promote Zionist Christianity.”
Last year, at least 139 Christians were arrested on faith-related issues. Those arrested are increasingly charged under Section 500, amended in 2021, with longer prison sentences. Iran’s judicial system also broke the background of “dissident” church groups and sentenced them to fines, according to the report.
Article 18 warned that Iran’s religious freedom violations are in fact much greater than publicly known. Article 18 and other advocacy groups analyzed data after the release of more than 3 million case files from Tehran Judicial Judicial, which were heard between 2008 and 2023. The file was acquired and released in 2024 by the “Haktivist” group Edalat-E Ali.
The Iranian government has long portrayed Christian persecution as a respectable player at the world stage, with analysis of judicial files being considered “smoking guns” used against the regime’s claims.
Iran ranked 9th in the Open Doors ‘2025 World Watch List (WWL), a Christian support organization in 50 countries where becoming a Christian is the most difficult. The report said despite the persecution, “Iranian churches are growing steadily.”
