Link: https://hrwf.eu/iran-arrests-of-christians-nearly-double-in-iran-report-says/

Christian Daily (19.02.2026) – Authorities in Iran arrested 254 Christians on charges related to their faith or religious activities in 2025, nearly twice as many as the figure of 139 detained the previous year, a new report shows.

In nearly 90 percent of the cases, authorities leveled charges under the amended Article 500 of the penal code, which criminalizes “propaganda contrary to the holy religion of Islam,” according to the report released today (Feb. 19) by Article18, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Middle East Concern.

More than twice the number of Christians served sentences of imprisonment, exile or forced labor last year, 57, than the previous year’s figure of 25, the report states.

“Forty-three Christians were still serving sentences at the end of 2025, while a further at least 16 others remained in pre-trial detention,” it states. “And although fewer Christians were sentenced in 2025 than the previous year – 96 compared to 73 – the combined total of their sentences (280 years) was higher than in 2024 (263 years), conveying a trend towards harsher sentences.”

At least 11 Christians received sentences of 10 years or more in 2025, while authorities handed down a total of nine years in exile and 249 years of deprivation of such items health, employment or education, the report notes.

Following Iran’s “12-day war” with Israel on June 13-25, five Christians faced charges under a new espionage law introduced after the military action, resulting in combined sentences of over 40 years in prison, the report states.

The report notes a “sharp increase” in arrests of Christians following the 12-day war, as confirmed in a statement by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence that referred to 53 “trained elements” – referring to evangelical Christians – who had been “neutralized.”

“Christians’ personal property, including Bibles and other Christian literature, was ordered to be confiscated by the state in at least two cases, for the ‘research’ purposes of the MOIS [Ministry of Intelligence and Security],” the report notes. “In an unpublicized case, an army officer’s employment was terminated after 23 years of service because of his conversion to Christianity, while five Christian converts were referred by court order to ‘cult treatment clinics,’ with the stated aim of ‘returning them to the holy religion of Islam.’”

Severe mistreatment of Christian prisoners continued in 2025, including denial of healthcare, psychological torture and a reported beating.