Decision | Becca Coon | February 10, 2020
“My fear is that we’re too quiet,” said Dabrina Bet-Tamraz, an Iranian Christian whose father, mother and brother are imprisoned in Iran for Christian evangelism.
On Feb. 5, Family Research Council held a panel discussion on religious persecution in Iran called “Stories from Iran: Religious Freedom and the Secret Growth of the Underground Church.” Tamraz and fellow Iranian Christians Maryam Rostampour and Mariziyeh Amirizadeh shared firsthand about the persecution they endured for living out their faith in their home country.
Tamraz was arrested and detained in a men’s detention center in 2009. After being released, she fled to Switzerland where she is now appealing to the international community to help her family, as well as other Iranian Christians.
During that same year, Rostampour and Amirizadeh were both imprisoned for “promoting Christianity” and were detained for 259 days in Evin Prison in Tehran, where Tamraz’s brother is also held. Although they were sentenced to death, the women were cleared of all charges and released from custody after international intervention.
The three women’s stories are not unique. Open Doors USA ranks Iran as the ninth-worst country for Christian persecution, and neighboring Iraq comes in at No. 15.