Christian activities seen as crimes in Iran in graphic from Article 18 report. (Article 18)
LONDON (Morning Star News) – Bent on suppressing Christianity in Iran, Islamic courts handed down six times more prison time to persecuted Christians in 2024 than the previous year, according to advocacy group 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 Monday (Jan. 20) 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 the court system 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 report included more than 300 legal files of Christians who faced charges for their faith, including many cases that were previously unknown. There are likely still undiscovered cases of Christian prisoners of conscience, according to the report.
“It is proof of what we have been saying for years,” Steve Dew-Jones, news director for Article 18, told Morning Star News.
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. This Friday (Jan. 24) in Geneva during its U.N.-directed Universal Periodic Review of human rights, the Iranian government again will be called on to defend its human rights record and present itself as a “plausible entity” in the U.N., something the files shatter, Dew-Jones said.
“They talk about freedom of religion, how many churches are open and how they have no one in prison for their faith, when in fact the reality is exactly opposite,” Dew-Jones said.
In addition to the substantial increases in the length of prison sentences, Article 18 researchers noticed several other trends in the way officials attacked Christians, in particular converts from Islam. As fall approached, agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps began investigating the finances of Christians and the lawyers who defended them, looking for any links to foreign sources.
“Over a two-month period, Christians in at least five cities were arrested or summoned for prolonged questioning by IRGC agents on
suspicion of having received funds from abroad, for which they were threatened with charges under the amended Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code (IPC), which allows for 10 years imprisonment,” the report reads.
The IRGC threats were not empty; more than 70 percent of the charges against Christians last year were filed under the amended Article 500.
“The Iranian government seems to have intensified its efforts to isolate and financially undermine the Christian community as part of a broader strategy to suppress its growth and influence,” according to the report.
While Iran invests in expanding influence across the region in places like Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, officials interpret any expansion of Christianity within Iran as an “analogous threat,” justifying further financial suppression, according to the report.
“Authorities have even told some Christian detainees that ‘foreign hostile states,’ including ‘Zionist groups,’ are actively supporting Christian organizations in Iran, rationalizing the severe measures taken against church finances as a matter of ‘national security.’”
Besides the judiciary using the amended article to put a choke-hold on the finances of Christian groups, “it was also notable in 2024 that
in at least two cases, judges used the amended Article 500 of the IPC to issue confiscation orders for Christian properties and vehicles,” the report states.
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.”
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