03/04/2022 Iran (International Christian Concern) – Nine Iranian Christian converts were acquitted by a Tehran appeal court over charges of “acting against national security” and “promoting Zionist Christianity.” However, one of the nine is already back in prison on charges related to his faith, and another two have been charged with new accusations. Simultaneously, the Iranian Supreme Court denied an appeal case for Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, a convert serving ten years in prison on charges similar to those of the recently acquitted Christians.

Abdolreza (Matthias) Haghnejad, Khalil Daeghanpour, Hossein Kadivar, Kamal Naamanian, Mohammad Vafadar, Mohammad (Sharooz) Eslamdoust, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Khatibi, and Behnam Akhlaghi were arrested between January and February 2019 and later sentenced to five years in prison. In early November 2021, the Supreme Court ordered a review of their case, and they were acquitted in February 2022.

However, Pastor Matthias now faces six years in prison on an overturned 2014 appeal for “acting against the security of the country by forming a group and propagating Christianity outside the church and in the house church and giving information to the enemies of Islam.” Babak and Beham now also face charges for “propaganda against the state” regarding videos they posted on Christian gatherings.

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