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TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A former Iranian now living in Tulsa wants to block a law proposed in Iran that would require men who leave the Muslim faith to be executed.

The Rev. Reza Safa is the founder and president of TBN Nejat TV, a Tulsa-based television ministry that beams 24-hour-a-day Christian programming to satellite dishes in Iran.

Safa was raised a Muslim in Iran and converted to Christianity as a young man living in Europe.

The new law passed the Iranian Parliament by 196 votes to 7 in September and would require the death penalty for Muslim men who convert to another faith and prison for women.

Safa says the bill is now being considered by the Guardian Council, a group of 12 top leaders, and then will go to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for final approval.