Focus on IRAN
19 June 09
Iran is number 3 on the Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted. A house church crackdown made 2008 one of the toughest years for Christians since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. More than 50 Christians were arrested, interrogated and even beaten; one couple died of their injuries.
It is forbidden to use the local Farsi language to minister to people from a Muslim background. Church services are monitored by the secret police, and believers face great discrimination and difficulty finding and keeping jobs.
Last September the Iranian Parliament approved an upgraded law calling for a mandatory death sentence for apostasy (conversion to another religion).