Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani – whom many of you have been praying for – has suffered a setback, just months after being released from prison. Please continue to pray for him and another convert who is facing the same charges.

Pastor Nadarkhani has faced severe hostility from the Iranian authorities for his Christian faith

It’s emerged that new charges have been levelled against Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani from Iran, just months after being released from prison.

In 2017, the pastor was sentenced to ten years in prison, plus two years exile in the south of Iran, for involvement in church activities. The sentence was later reduced on review and he was pardoned in February 2023, but he still had to serve the two-year exile.

A new set of unspecified charges have since been made against Yousef and another convert called Abdolreza (Matthias) Haghnejad. This follows an official complaint by a married couple called Ramin and Saeede, who also spent time in prison because of involvement in church activities. Friends of the two men believe the complaint was made under threat.

Matthias is already serving a six-year prison sentence originally issued in 2012. This was successfully appealed in 2014, but later reinstated in 2020. In January 2023, he was sent to prison in his hometown of Bandar Anzali, in the north, but this latest charge has led to him being transferred 1,600km to a prison in the southern city of Minab. He was not allowed to say goodbye to his wife and daughter.

Please pray

• That God will strengthen and encourage Matthias, Yousef and their families
• That the courts will recognise that the church involvement of these two men are not criminal activities
• That Ramin and Saeede will experience God’s grace and guidance as they handle this situation.

Source: Middle East Concern

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Pastor Nadarkhani among several Christian prisoners released in Iran

2 March 2023

There is encouraging news to report from Iran, with the release of several Christian prisoners, including Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani who has been imprisoned for nearly five years. 

Pastor Nadarkhani is the last to be released of four Christian converts sentenced to ten years in prison in 2017 for house church activities. After their sentences were reduced at a retrial in 2020, Youhan Omidi and Yasser Mossayebzadeh were released in 2022 and 2021 respectively. Last month, Zaman Fadaie (known as Saheb) was released (on 9 February), and this was followed by Pastor Nadarkhani’s release (26 February).

The pastor told Article18 that he was ‘happy to be released and at home after nearly five years in prison’ and ‘very grateful for all those who prayed for me and remembered me while I was in prison’. He added, “All I endured was small in comparison with what Christ has done for us.”

• What's it like to be a Christian in Iran?

However, your prayers continue to be needed because Pastor Nadarkhani – who, since 2006, has repeatedly been harassed, arrested and imprisoned for his Christian activities – still faces flogging and two years living in exile on the other side of Iran. 

In February 2021, a UN report said Nadarkhani had been the victim of ‘religiously motivated persecution’ and that his detention was unlawful.

Deeper change needed

The releases of Pastor Nadarkhani and Zaman Fadaie are among a wave of pardons by the Iranian regime as it marks the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Republic. Two other Christians, Mehdi Rokhparvar and Moslem Rahimi, were also released last month. 

This is good news and follows the acquittal last year of nine Christians who faced the prospect of five years in prison. In late 2021, the Iranian Supreme Court decreed that belonging to a house church was not a criminal offence. However, despite this, Christians continue to face oppression for expression their faith, with many believers still facing charges and imprisonment. 

As Article18’s latest annual report says, ”Such pardons, while welcome, do not address the original injustice of their sentencing and imprisonment, and the government continues to regard rights and freedoms guaranteed in international law as crimes, including the right to freely adopt a religion of one’s choice, and to manifest one’s faith in community with others.”

Source: Article 18