08/29/2019 Iran (International Christian Concern) – Local reports indicate that a bookseller in Northwest Iran was rearrested on Tuesday and is currently incarcerated in Bukan Central Prison. Mostafa Rahimi was originally arrested this past June on charges of selling Bibles in his bookstore. He was then released on bail, with charges pending. No other details are available.
Iran’s government is officially Islamic, and authorities actively restrict access to Bibles and other Christian literature. Sharing one’s faith is categorized as a criminal offense, usually of the national security nature. The authorities often pressure Christians so extensively, routinely violating their human rights, that they are given no choice but to escape their country.
Government sponsored pressure on Christians has grown significantly since the regime was established forty years ago. Prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, most of the Christian presence in Iran was foreign. However, the violence of the revolution prompted many Iranians to begin exploring Christianity. Today, the Iranian church is widely recognized as one of the fastest growing churches in the world.
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