Treating house churches of Muslim-born Christian converts as enemy networks and escalating arrests
Khamenei has publicly listed house-church networks among enemy plots against Iranians' faith. Converts from Islam cannot worship in recognised churches and meet in private homes that security forces raid. BBC and rights groups reported arrests rising to 166 in 2023, with longer sentences despite a 2021 ruling that house churches were not a crime.
Editorial timeline of public reporting, not a legal finding.
- Khamenei lists house churches among enemy plots against the faith - Stefanus Alliance reported that in a 2010 speech Khamenei warned enemies were trying to weaken Iranians' faith, especially among the young, by spreading immorality, false mysticism, Bahaism and house-church networks. Iranian Christians: Sixfold Increase in Prison Sentences, Report Reveals
- 166 Christians arrested in a year as IRGC raids house churches - BBC News, citing Article 18, reported that at least 166 Christians were arrested in 2023, up from 134 in 2022, with the Revolutionary Guards increasingly involved in house-church raids. Iran: The Christians celebrating Easter in secret
- Secret Easter worship under longer sentences - BBC News reported that converts worshipped in secret at Easter as bails rose and prison terms lengthened, with some speaking of three- to fifteen-year sentences, despite a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that forming a house church was not a crime. Iran: The Christians celebrating Easter in secret