Iran claims to allow the country’s Christian minority to practice its faith in peace. The reality for many Iranian Christians, however, is plagued by whippings, arrests, imprisonment, surveillance and harassment, according to a February report from the religious freedom NGO Article 18. 

One shocking finding of the Article 18 40-page study, titled “Faceless Victims: Rights Violations Against Christians in Iran,” states, “By the end of 2023, at least 17 of the Christians arrested during the summer had received prison sentences of between three months and five years, or non-custodial punishments such as fines, flogging, and in one case the community-service of digging graves.”

The report noted, “Despite a comparable number of Christians being arrested in 2023 as in previous years – 166 arrests were documented in 2023, compared to 134 in 2022 – fewer names and faces could be publicized.”

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reviews a group of armed forces cadets during their graduation ceremony at the police academy in Tehran, Iran, Oct. 3, 2022. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Vojoudi said, “I used to go to a church near this cathedral church in Tehran, of course secretly. This church was open to the public, but I forgot on which days, but is extremely under [the] watch of the regime.

“The picture of [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic regime, sits right next to the church, means that they watch everyone, and they have no respect for other religions.”

Article 18 wrote, “With converts constituting the largest – albeit unrecognized – Christian community in Iran, the issue of ‘apostasy’ is a central concern… a Christian convert was sentenced to be hanged for apostasy in 2010, the charge of apostasy and death sentence were overturned in response to international pressure, but many converts have since been threatened with a similar fate upon arrest and during interrogations.” 

The dire fate of Iranian Christians has forced them to organize house churches as part of an underground movement.

Vojoudi said Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, declared in a speech the “importance of confronting the house churches and provoked his followers against the Christians by claiming that the house churches are created by the ‘enemies of Islam’ and must be stopped.”

Article 18 listed a number of demands for the international community, including that foreign nations urge Iran “to ensure and facilitate freedom of religion or belief for all its citizens” and “highlighting human rights infractions during bilateral and multilateral dialogues with Iran.”

Fox News Digital sent numerous press queries to Iran’s U.N. mission and its Foreign Ministry in Tehran.