Thursday, May 28, 2009

House Church in Iran(Karaj) invaded by Security Forces


News
IRAN-According to news received by Farsi Christian News Network on May 21st, 2009, plain clothes security officers invaded a house church located in the city of Iran-Karaj and arrested 5 newly converted Christians.

The 5 arrested, who had gathered in the house-church for worship and Bible study were removed from the house and transported to an unknown location.

According to reports received, Mr. Javad Abtahi, who was the host and the leader of this gathering at the house church, who was also arrested along with the other participants, was given no arrest warrant by the security officers and his house was searched without any court authorization. In this search and seizure, several Bibles, New Testaments were confiscated and all the participants were handcuffed and taken to an unknown location.

The family members of Mr. Saeed R, one of the detainees, have stated that pursuant to several inquiries made to the appropriate authorities thus far the government has refused to disclose the whereabouts and the well-being of the detainees.

All other Christian detainees and their families, which have been arrested by security officers in the past years, have all received similar treatment

Monday, May 25, 2009

IRAN- A Christian Man is summoned to the Revolutionary Court

iran reports that according to a court order dated April 25th 2009, Mr. Mehran Mahmoodi, a 28 years old newly converted Christian, has been ordered to attend a Revolutionary Court hearing, which is held at the Al-Fajr street in the city of Ouroomieh, at 10 am on May 14th, 2009.

In this court order the charge of conspiracy to disrupt the Islamic Revolutionary order has been mentioned as the primary reason for the court to demand the attendance of this man on the above mentioned date. This order has been issued at a time when this Christian man has already left Iran and is currently living in another country.

It is noteworthy to mention that Mehran Mahmoodi is the son of the late Majid Mahmoodi, who at the age of 68 and after repeated threats by the security intelligence officers, was gruesomely murdered at his place of work by unknown assailants, who were connected with the government security apparatus.

Also, in connection with this report, FCNN reported that Mrs. Fatemeh Pauki, the wife of the late Majid Mahmmodi, according to a court order, dated April 5th, issued by the 4th provincial district court in Ouroomieh and the subsequent enforcement of the order by the Ministry of Education, was denied her retirement pension, which she had earned by many years of dedicated work as a teacher. Until now and after many inquiries as to the reasons for such action by the government, Mrs. Pauki has not received any replies from the government.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

IRAN-A Retired Christian woman is intimidated and her pension withheld !


Mrs. "Fatemeh Pauki", a 58 years old retired school teacher from the province of Western Azerbaijan, has been denied from receiving her pension income, according to an order from the 4th district court of the city of Ouroumieh (North West Iran), dated March 2, 2009.
According to the iran pursuant to the court order obtained by the district attorney representing the 4th district court of Ouroumieh on March 2, 2009, a letter was sent from the Ministry of Education informing Ms. Pauki of the court’s order and that her pension income would not paid to her as of April 5, 2009.

The persistent inquiry of this retired teacher as to the real causes of such decision and her being denied of her rightful pension income has not been answered by any officials.

It seems that the government authorities are using this tactic to intimidate people who have converted to the Christian faith to lose interest in their newly found faith.

This 58 years old retired woman has, in the past years, been called and detained by the officials of the Ministry of Information. She has not only been threatened, but has been forced to promise not to contact any Christians, attend any Christian meetings, and cooperate with the security officials in spying for them.

It is important to mention that Ms. Pauki’s husband, the late Majid Mahmoodi Tabrizi, who himself was a newly converted Christian was threatened on many occasions to renounce his faith and was finally pursued by unknown assailants and gruesomely murdered on July 30, 2005.

The coroner’s report, which was issued on August 2, 2005, indicated that the cause of death was massive internal hemorrhaging that resulted from severe trauma to the heart and the lungs by a sharp knife-like object and the fracture of all rib cage bones.

The family of the late brother Majid filed a complaint to the judicial authorities and the police to initiate appropriate investigations in order to identify and apprehend those responsible for this ruthless murder. In response, and more than 4 years after the incident, many threatening letters have been written to the family of this martyr in which they have been threatened and advised not to pursue this matter any longer.

The Christian committee of the Human Rights activists of Iran expresses grave concern about this method of intimidation and pressure employed by the provincial authorities of Western Azerbaijan province. This is a clear violation of the three most vulnerable strata of the Iranian society, namely the women, the teachers, and the retired people. This Christian lady is paying a heavy and unjust price for her faith in Christ.

This action is inexcusable at any time and anywhere, but more so now that the economic and financial condition of people, who are all suffering in this world-wide recession, has worsened will have dire consequences on this woman and her family. She served the children of this nation faithfully and with utmost integrity and such action is absolutely against all moral and human right principles.

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will

sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall”

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Leader of a local House church in Iran was murdered by plain clothes officers


Once again the blood of a martyr who preached the heavenly gospel of Jesus Christ was shed in the land of Iran.
Blessed be all those Christians and the lovers of Jesus Christ who sacrifice their blood for God’s word!

According to Farsi Christian News Network, and our news sources from Malek-Shahr in Isfahan, following the incident of the arrests of several Christians on Sunday night, July 27, 2008, at a house-church gathering whose members had gathered together to worship the Lord, Mr. Abbas Amiri, who had made his home available for the believers of the town to gather and to worship the Lord together, was attacked and beaten up plain clothes security officers. Unfortunately, our brother, due to his old age and the extent of his injuries, died at 4:30 pm on Wednesday, July 30, 2008, at a hospital in the city of Isfahan, and went to be with His Lord.

plain clothes security officers, after attacking and entering the house of Martyr Amiri, became even more furious when they discovered that this man, who had been hosting house-church meeting at his house, had visited the Muslim holy city of Mecca and had become a ranking and honored “pilgrim” or “Haji” when he was a practicing Muslim. Also, he, who had also fought in the Iran-Iraq war as a devoted fighter, had now become a Christian and was organizing and conducting gospel meetings at his home.

The Amiri family and his sons, buried this honorable martyr of the Lord’s at his birthplace of Masjid-Soleiman on Thursday, July 31, 2008. According to our news crew from Masjid-Soleiman, despite the opposition and attempts made by the local security forces to prevent the attendance of mourners and friends of the family, the funeral service was conducted and the burial was attended by many friends and supporters of Martyr Amiri in a mainly non-religious ceremony.

We declare that we will not sink into a spirit of mourning and wear black clothing, as it’s the habit of some, because we believe that he is safe and fully resting in the loving arms of the Lord Jesus. Instead, we rejoice with ever increasing resolve and power that the word of God would continue to advance in Iran. We won’t stop or deviate from our goal and vision.

May his honorable spirit and blood water the seeds of Christ’s heavenly church in Iran.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Consipracy to arrest two Christian Web Bloggers in Iran

News
Two newly converted Christians in a preplanned and fake setting of an underground church meeting were arrested by security intelligence officers and as of yet there is no news of their whereabouts.
According to information received by iran a 30 years old Christian man by the name of Mazaher R., who had been active in web-blogging and Christian evangelism via internet, was befriended by a person who was a local resident of Isfahan and introduced himself as Pastor Reza.

This man, Pastor Reza, invited the Christian web blogger to meet him at a location in order to fellowship and be better acquainted with each other.

Our brother Mazaher, along with his sister, and another web blogger named Hamed S. met this man called Reza on February 22, 2009 at a pre-designated location.

These 3 believers met Reza and another lady called Maria, who was introduced as Reza’s wife, met at the prearranged location. After some introductory conversation, Pastor Reza invited the 3 Christians to accompany him and his wife to a secret home church meeting, located on Ordibehesht Street near the Felezi Bridge in Isfahan, where he was to baptize a new convert in water.

After a considerable travel to this location, this alleged pastor mentions that the location arrived at was his home church building. Upon entering the alleged house, the 3 Christians were attacked by plain clothes officers, blindfolded, handcuffed, and taken away to unknown location.

Following this incident, on February 5th, a day after the arrests, plain clothes officers entered the home of Mazaher’s father and confiscated computers, printers, and several CD disks.

According to credible sources, Mazaher’s sister who was arrested along with her brother and one other web logger, was severely interrogated and ultimately, after one week, and the discovery that she was merely an innocent person and had accompanied her brother and had no connection to any Christian web blogging, was released from custody.

The families of the arrested men, upon returning to the location where the alleged home church had been and the arrests had taken place, discovered through interviewing the neighbors, that the house had been vacant for a long time and there was never any person by the name of Pastor Reza living or working in that area.

According to the report prepared by the Christian Committee of the Human Rights Activists, and the published news surrounding these events and the destruction of several Christian websites by the revolutionary army officers which has resulted in several arrests, one can speculate that this event was a nothing more than set up for entrapment and is not unrelated to recent closures of Christian websites and web blogging sites.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Released After 12 Years in Fear of Stoning In Iran

News
After being kept for 13 years behind bars, Kobra Najjar, a woman who was sentenced to ‎be stoned, was finally released from prison last Tuesday. At the moment of release, she ‎seemed bewildered and said these words to explain her feelings: “nobody can understand ‎how I feel.” Rooz spoke with Kobra, her daughter and her attorney.‎

After repeated requests for clemency, authorities finally agreed to release Kobra on May ‎‎3rd on the occasion of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, like many other ‎prisoners are. Her attorney, Maryam Kian Ersi confirmed the release and told Rooz, ‎‎“After the head of [Iran’s] judiciary Mr. Shahrudi recommended to the amnesty ‎committee that Kobra’s stoning sentence be commuted, her name was added to the ‎amnesty list.”‎

Ersi explained the events leading up to Kobra’s release in these words. “On Tuesday I ‎went to the court to review the status of this case and to my astonishment learned that the ‎request for her release had been granted. I did not want to create undue expectations in ‎her family members, and so refrained from informing them of the news. But to my ‎surprise, I discovered that Kobra’s release order was faxed to Rajai-Shahr prison in Karaj ‎where she was staying the very same day.”‎

Kobra’s daughter Hiro, was 15 when her mother was arrested. Ever since, she has been ‎pursuing her case. She spoke with Rooz with tears in her eyes and being overtaken with ‎emotion. “Ms Ersi refrained from giving me the news to avoid disappointment. She ‎feared that my mother would be kept for 2 or 3 more days because of administrative ‎procedures and knew that I would go crazy in that period. But the child of another ‎prisoner who had been with my mother and whom I had helped in the past called me and ‎told me that my mother had just been released!” she said.‎

Kobra: I Cannot Believe It
I called Kobra late at night. I had never seen her, but knew so much about her. She too ‎knew that as a member of the campaign against stoning, I had been following up her case.‎

When we spoke, after the usual niceties and long pauses, Kobra said, “It is as if I am ‎walking in the clouds. I cannot believe that my feet are on the ground. I cannot believe ‎that I am in the presence of my children. Nobody can understand how I feel.” She ‎repeated the last sentence several times. ‎

At 47 Kobra is full of joy. “You know, during these 5 nights that I have come home, I ‎have only been able to sleep for 2 or 3 hours. I simply won’t fall asleep. Everything is so ‎unbelievable. My children, my mother, and everything else. I thank God.” She repeated ‎the last sentence several times as well.‎

Kobra was arrested in May 1997 for being an accomplice in the murder of her husband. ‎She told her story of how her addicted husband had forced her to turn into a prostitute so ‎she could be with her children and prevent them from harm. She stressed that if she had ‎not done what he threatened her with, she would have been harmed by her husband while ‎her children too would live under his threat. This is how she was charged with adultery. ‎One day, one of the clients that her husband had found for her, killed her addict husband, ‎with Kobra’s knowledge. He then confessed it all to the authorities, and in the process ‎also declared that Kobra was an accomplice in the murder by virtue of knowing of the ‎murder. Then Kobra was arrested, tried and sentenced to 8 years of prison and stoning, ‎and sent to jail.‎

Kobra’s accomplice however was released from prison when the victim’s family gave ‎their consent to his release, while Kobra’s stoning verdict remained. Until the passage of ‎‎12 years when she too was finally released, through an amnesty.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Iran Friend Zion

Iran Friend Zion