It is unlikely that Pastor Yousef Naderkhani, convicted of apostasy by the IRI, would renounce his Christian faith. He will therefore risk execution. This is not a unique case. In December 1990 Pastor Hossein Soudmand, a convert from Islam, refused to recant and was hanged by the regime. Not all the killings are committed through a court process; lynching happens. For example, in 2005 Pastor Ghorbandordi Tourani of Gonbad e Kavous was lured to a secluded place by a phone call from a would-be convert. When he got there, three men stabbed him to death.
The IRI tolerates Christianity in Iran as long as there is no attempt by the churches to convert Muslims. As the Vatican video below shows, this is acceptable to traditional Iranian church leaders such as Sebouh Sarkisian the archbishop of the Armenian community in Tehran. Evangelical churches, however, cannot grow in Iran without new converts. These are the Iranian Christians who are being persecuted. The video above by the Christian Broadcasting Network makes this clear.
Elam Ministries, an organization supporting evangelical churches in Iran says IRI leaders are concerned, “Because Iran is a strategic gateway nation, the growing church in Iran will impact Muslim nations across the Islamic world.”
