10/11/2019 Iran (International Christian Concern) – Mahrokh Kanbari, a 65-year old Iranian Christian, has begun serving her one-year prison sentence after receiving her sentence this past July for engaging in “propaganda against the system.”

She was originally arrested just prior to Christmas on vague national security charges but had been released after posting a bail of $2,500 following a 10-day interrogation. United States Vice President Mike Pence had tweeted for her release shortly following her sentencing.

Kanbari’s imprisonment is, unfortunately, part of an ever increasing downward trend by Iran regarding religious persecution. Ever since its inception forty years ago, Iran’s government has defined the country by a strict interpretation of Islam. The presence of Christianity is thus viewed as a national security issue. The government feels pressure from the society, who increasingly wants nothing to do with the regime’s interpretation of Islam. It is for this reason that the government has increased their own pressure against Christians.

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