Iran has an open secret.

Persecuting Christians is a booming business in the Muslim-majority nation, and the country is earning large sums of money from arresting Christ followers.

Fines and bail amounts imposed by Iranian courts have reached hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years, financially crippling poor Christian families trying to keep their loved ones out of prison.

For years, the Middle Eastern nation has targeted Christians for their faith in Christ through intimidation, physical abuse, and imprisonment. But what’s often overlooked are the exorbitant bail amounts doled out to Christ followers simply to keep themselves out of jail.

Joseph Shahbazian, leader of a Christian house church, was arrested in June 2020 for his Christian activities and given a bail amount of 3 billion tomans (about $163,000). After pleading with the court and handing over the deeds to his and his mother’s apartments, the court accepted 2 billion tomans (about $109,000) on Shahbazian’s behalf.

Shahbazian was released from prison in 2023 after serving a little more than a year in jail, but was rearrested in 2025 for his continued Christian activities and sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Similarly, Malihe Nazari, a Christian woman, was arrested in June 2020 for her faith and released on bail a few weeks later in the amount of 1 billion tomans (about $54, 000). Despite paying the bail, Nazari was ultimately sentenced in 2022 for “founding or leading an organization that aims to disrupt national security,” and served nearly eight months in jail.

These are only two examples of untold numbers of Christians who are arrested and forced to pay fines and unreasonable bail amounts to be released from prison. And the freedom earned by paying their bail is often only temporary.

Wresting money from the hands of Christians is yet another way the Iranian regime is persecuting Christians. And with Iran’s economy already compelling many to live in poverty, forcing Christ followers to pay for the crime of worshipping Jesus is not only untenable, it’s also a gross violation of Christians’ rights.

Story by Lynn Arias