Source: www.MNNonline.org
Date: May 9, 2025
Iran (MNN) — Three Iranian Christians are among dozens facing lengthy prison sentences for their faith. Narges Nasri, Mehran Shamloui, and Abbas Soori were arrested late last year and are each facing more than a decade in prison. Their cases represent a growing trend in Iran, where in 2024, 96 believers were sentenced to a combined total of 263 years of imprisonment, or about two-and-a-half years each. That’s a sixfold increase from the previous year.
Nasri, who is pregnant, received the highest sentence of these three: 10 years for propaganda against Islam, 5 years for membership in an opposition group, and 1 year for propaganda against the state. Greg Musselman with Voice of the Martyrs Canada says her crime was simple.
“This all comes from a social media post she had made. And so it’s very concerning: we’re seeing now an increase of these sentences already.”
Iran has one of the fastest growing churches in the world.
“That is also known to the Iranian government, so they’re trying to put further pressure on the Christians to stop doing evangelistic activity or convert back to Islam,” Musselman says.
Many believers are not willing to exchange freedom in Christ for the former chains of Islam. The government frames these believers as propaganda generators, and the resulting pressure manifests itself in extreme charges. Iran’s regime sees believers’ stance as an obstacle to its sponsorship of terrorism and proxy wars.
“They see the Christians especially as not going along with them, and they see them as an opposition group,” Musselman says.
Hebrews 14:3 calls us to remember those in prison as if we were behind bars alongside them.
“The most important thing is that we pray and ask the Holy Spirit how we can get involved,” Musselman says. “We can’t do everything, but we can do some things.”
Organizations like Voice of the Martyrs Canada and their contacts in Iran are financially resourcing the prisoners’ families. If you’d like to contribute to this effort, click here.
(Photo courtesy of Iran Alive Ministries)
Featured image courtesy of Wikimedia commons.