Iranian Government Subjects Christians to harassment, threats, beatings*

Posted: April 14, 2007
Voice of the Martyrs

British military service members recently released after they were
kidnapped by Iran and held hostage for nearly two weeks are revealing
stories of threats and terror they suffered during their captivity. Now
the Christian ministry Voice of the Martyrs is confirming Iran treats
its own citizens the same way – if they are Christian.

One of the British service members, Faye Turney, reported after being
returned to Great Britain that one of her captors rubbed her head and
said, "Just you now," when she asked about her colleagues.

Another time, a jailor came in to measure her from head to foot, while
she was listening to sawing and hammering going on nearby. She said she
thought her coffin was being prepared.

Iran's pressure on the service members, and their manipulation for
Iranian interests, continued when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
announced plans to release them, as a "gift" to Britain.

Turney later told reporters she "felt like a traitor" when she complied
with demands to write letters of confession that were used as propaganda
on Iranian television. The service members reported they were constantly
subjected to psychological pressure for the two-week period.

Voice of the Martyrs, however, said this is a regular routine for
Iranians who refuse government demands to renounce Christianity.

Sources for the Christian organization say threats, interrogations,
beatings and even malicious attacks are routine parts of attempts by the
Iranian government to silence Christians who continue to spread the
gospel of Jesus.

"Reportedly, Iranian officials treated British sailors … very well," the
group said. The prisoners were filmed eating, watching television and
laughing and joking, although the service members later explained that
was staged for international publicity.

"Government officials have not been nearly as cordial to their own
citizens who follow Jesus Christ," VOM said.

An Iranian source recently reported to VOM that a woman named "Azedeh"
was abducted by government officials while she was returning from
visiting a family new in Christianity.

"Azedeh was threatened, interrogated and forced to deny Christ. She
refused and was eventually released," the source told VOM. "As Azedeh
and her sister continued evangelizing, the government randomly summoned
them once or twice a month for interrogations and threats.

"Many times the government demanded the sisters deny Christ, or turn in
other Christians, but the sisters refused," the source reported.

And when the sisters were not being watched by government agents, "their
neighbors reported their activities to police. They were beaten many
times, even attacked with a knife," VOM's source said.

Eventually, their landlord evicted them, the report said, so VOM helped
them relocate to a different, hopefully safer, region in the nation.

"Their lives have changed. They are now able to continue their ministry
and are doing more evangelism," the source reported. "They thank their
brothers and sisters in the United States who are praying for them and
thinking of them. Knowing there are people around the world praying and
encouraging them warms their hearts."

Voice of the Martyrs simply asked that faithful believers pray that God
provides Christians in Iran "the boldness to remain faithful and
continue sharing the gospel."

Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry
working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith,
and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in
Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.

It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started
smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before
Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for
his refusal to recant Christianity.

He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about
the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security
Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound
scars on his body.

The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized
in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.