Displaying items by tag: Iran

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned to court in Iran, according to her family, who said she has been told to pack a bag as she will be returned to prison following a hearing on 2 November. Her local MP Tulip Siddiq said the timing of the trial raised ‘serious concerns’ as it follows the postponement of a court hearing about the UK's historic debt to Iran. She added, ‘Nazanin has once again been treated with utter contempt and I am extremely concerned about her future and wellbeing. The fact that she has been told to pack a bag for prison ahead of her court hearing doesn't fill me with confidence that this will be anything close to a fair trial. The timing of this development alongside the postponement of the court hearing raises serious concerns.’

‘The fastest-growing church in the world has taken root in one of the most unexpected and radicalised nations on earth,’ according to Sheep Among Wolves, a two-hour documentary about Iran’s revival that is reproducing discipleship movements that own no property or buildings, have no central leadership, and are predominantly led by women. Many of the ruling class still follow Islam, ‘because that’s where the high paying jobs are’, according to the film; but the majority of the ordinary people love God and recognise that Islam is the problem. The most powerful Christian leaders are very gentle, courageous women going out on the highways and byways sharing with prostitutes, drug addicts and everybody they come into contact with. Praise God for the abundance of Bibles in Farsi being distributed, and pray for those still translating His word into various Persian ethnic languages.

Ebrahim’s ordeal began in 2013 when he was sentenced to one year in prison and two years of internal exile in the remote town of Sarbaz for ‘propaganda against the regime by establishing and organising Christian gatherings’ and ‘having contacts with anti-revolutionary networks outside Iran’. He expected to be released in 2015, but instead he was retried and sentenced to an additional five years in prison for ‘acting against national security’. On 27 September, he had to answer a further charge of ‘propaganda against the state’, carrying a prison sentence of three to twelve months. Thankfully, the next day the case closed for lack of evidence. Iranian Christians are thankful that the prosecutor did not press charges, but request prayer that Ebrahim will know the Lord’s peace during this time of increased pressure from the authorities, even while continuing to serve the internal exile sentence.

While an increasing number of rape and sexual assault victims are speaking out in Iran, the legal code often prevents justice and puts some victims at risk of punishment. The #MeToo movement has finally emerged among Iranians, sending shockwaves across Persian language social media. Over the past week many women and men have come forward to talk about their experiences of rape and sexual assault by dozens of high-profile figures in the country. Although the official media remain indifferent to the stories, they have stirred public uproar to the point that the police in Tehran arrested a well-known bookshop owner accused of rape by several women. No one can doubt the bravery and courage of individuals who break the taboos and talk about their personal experiences of sexual harassment in a country where patriarchal values are reproduced and reinforced by the state.

Mariam was abused as a young girl. As a teen, she took twelve pills a day to treat her depression. She was an atheist, believing that no god would allow her to suffer so much. The betrayal by her father and abuse by another man left Mariam hating men. Without hope, she tried suicide five times. But Jesus rescued Mariam! To listen to the amazing story of how she experienced Christ’s presence in wonderful ways and how he led her in a ministry to Muslim women and girls, click the ‘More’ button.

Iran intends to build a military base in the Indian Ocean to protect fishing and commercial vessels from piracy and ‘foreign ships’ (referring to the US-led multinational naval task force currently protecting Gulf shipping from Iranian interference). A new agreement will give China access to Iranian ports. China is reportedly planning to build a new military base near Iran’s Chabahar port to enable the Chinese navy to monitor the activities of the US navy, which protects shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important economic waterways. Any expansion in Iranian and Chinese military activity in the region would impact on the jointly-administered US / UK base on the island of Diego Garcia, one of the most important US military assets in the region. Tehran also plans to sign a $400 billion trade deal with China, which includes closer military cooperation between them to counter ‘Washington's dominance’.

‘As soon as the outbreak of the virus was announced, we stopped all our face-to-face meetings,’ says a secret Iranian believer. ‘In this time of crisis, we have had more than ten hours of prayer meetings every day. We created a special prayer schedule that we call “Frontline”, where prayer members can virtually walk in and out to come to pray together.’ Open Doors partners gave them online resources. But their situation is dire. Inflation is so high that people cannot afford to buy meat, poultry, or fruit. In these dark times for the country, the underground church is shining brightly. They share their food and sanitary items with their communities. Church members feel blessed to be able to do this work: ‘The distribution was a fabulous and unbelievable experience. People were astonished when we gave them the food - praising God with thanksgiving psalms, crying, hugging, and shouting.’

Libya, a major oil producer, has been mired in turmoil since 2011 when Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising. In the first week of June the warring sides began new ceasefire talks in Libya. On 14 June the Turkish foreign minister and his Russian counterpart decided to put off the talks during a phone call; however, they said that it was important to prevent another failed ceasefire. Pray that there will be constructive positive talks for a lasting ceasefire without any more postponements. Pray for a spirit of unity to flow through all communication between the Iranian foreign minister, Turkish president Erdogan, and Russian president Putin. Pray also for an end to the heavy clashes that erupted recently despite a unilateral ceasefire proposal by Egypt.

Three women, charged with 'inciting prostitution' for not wearing veils, have been sentenced to 42 years in prison between them. Now, with Covid-19 cases confirmed in prisons across Iran, they are in more danger than ever. Monireh, Yasaman and Mojgan have done nothing wrong; thousands are calling on the head of the judiciary to release them immediately. As an act of peaceful protest, the unveiled women handed out flowers to female passengers on a Tehran metro train. They were filmed sharing their hopes for Iranian women on International Women’s Day. Days after the video went viral on social media, they were charged with sham offences including ‘inciting prostitution’ for promoting unveiling. Prisoners in Iran are at particular risk because they are unable to take the same social distancing and hygiene measures as those outside prison to protect themselves.

During the coronavirus lockdown, Nigerian Fulani militants have murdered a five-year-old child they snatched from a pregnant mother, another nine Christians including two children, and a second pregnant woman In Egypt, seven Islamist terrorists, suspected of plotting to attack Christians under cover of the nightly coronavirus curfew, were shot dead. In West Africa, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared coronavirus a ‘product of evil’ while he mocked health measures and stepped up attacks. In East Africa the arrival of a second invasion of ravenous young locusts, spawned in Ethiopia, is feared to be twenty times more severe than the plague that devastated crops in January. Iran is facing major challenges. Its slow response to the pandemic, lack of transparency, and absence of an exit strategy, together with the US sanctions and the fall of oil prices, have compromised its healthcare system, its economic situation, and the daily lives of its people.