Beginning a Prison Sentence

Iranian authorities summoned four Christians on May 28th to begin serving their five-year sentence.

Hossein Kadivar, Khalil Dehghanpour, Kamal Naamanian and Mohammed Vafadar obeyed the summons and are now placed in the notorious Evin prison.

They were among nine Christian converts who were arrested over a four-week period at the beginning of 2019, accused of endangering state security. Following a disagreement with the judge over the choice of a defence lawyer, the other five men were immediately transferred to Evin prison, as they were unable to meet exorbitant bail demands of about $130,000 each.

In October 2019 all nine were convicted of “acting against national security” and each sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. The sentences were upheld on appeal in February 2020.

Of the four men who presented themselves at Evin Prison earlier this week, three are married with families, while Mohammad is single.

Iran is at the number 9 position on the World Watch List. Believers in Iran suffer extreme suppression, but despite the risks, Iran has one of the fastest growing underground churches in the world.

Please pray

• God will comfort the families of all Christians in prison, providing for their needs and caring for the children in particular

• God will grant his peace to those who recently started serving their prison sentences and encourage them greatly

• Iran will respect the freedom of its citizens to follow the faith of their own choosing and stop criminalizing the activities of Christian converts as though they are acting against national security