Iran: A Christian jailed for converting from Islam

People forget that to be a christian in many countries can be a death sentence.
Iran: A Christian jailed for converting from Islam - National Council of Resistance of Iran - Foreign Affairs Committee

On August 22, Ramtin Soudmand, a Christian man whose father was executed 20 years ago by the mullahs' regime for converting to Christianity was arrested by the local office of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in the holy city of Mashhad.

"He was summoned to the local office of MOIS in Mashhad," a family member said.

Soudmand lived in Tehran since his father's execution, however he was to report to Mashhad.

"Ramtin decided not to pay any attention to the call and had said that he would wait until MOIS office in Tehran sent him a new summon," his mother said.

Considering Mrs. Dibaj and her husband's problems in the past with the MOIS in Mashhad, Soudmand changed his mind and reported to the dreaded MOIS in that city where he was last seen.

Rev. Mehdi Dibaj was brutally murdered by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). Dibaj was abducted on June 24, 1994. His body was found in a west Tehran park on July 5, 1994.

On September 26, 2006, the MOIS agents arrested Mrs. Fereshteh Dibaj, 28 and her husband, Reza Montazami, 35 in the holy city of Mashhad. Later the couple were transferred to an unknown location for a few days. While in custody, their house was searched by the MOIS and some of their belongings such as computers, CDs, documents and Christian books, were sized.

On July 26, the mullahs' agents of the notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) attacked a house-church in the small township of Malak in the suburbs of the central city of Isfahan.

In the raid, eight men, 6 women and two children were arrested. The victims were transferred to an unknown location. Among the detainees, there was an elderly couple in their 60s. The suppressive forces beat up these two senior citizens causing them serious injuries. They were transferred to Shariati Hospital in Isfahan where they were hospitalized in ICU.

The MOIS agents thoroughly searched the house for forbidden Christian books and literatures.

In a similar raid on a house-church in October of last year, the MOIS agents arrested a Christian couple in Karaj 40 kilometers west of the capital.

The mullahs' regime is furious over Muslims converting to any other faith especially Christianity. It has even introduced a controversial bill to its Majlis (parliament) calling for death penalty for individuals converting from Islam to any other faith.