World Watch Monitor | Dec. 5, 2018
Over 100 Christians have been arrested in Iran in the past week and nearly 150 in the past month, as part of the government’s attempt to “warn” Christians against proselytising over Christmas, according to the advocacy director of religious freedom charity Article 18.
Mansour Borji called the number of arrests – 114 in the past week alone – “staggering”. In the past month, he said a total of 142 Christians have been arrested in “10 or 11 different cities” across the country and belonging to different Christian groups.
Borji told World Watch Monitor that most of those arrested were allowed to go home after a few hours, or in some cases days – “as they had arrested so many of them and didn’t know what to do with them all” – but all were told to expect a call from the Ministry of Intelligence. Each of the Christians had their mobile devices confiscated, while those suspected to be the leaders of the groups remain in detention.