A Christian pastor in Iran is facing the death penalty after being charged with "spreading corruption on Earth," according to reports.
Pastor Behnam Irani was already serving six years in jail for Christian activities that included the formation of a 300-member evangelical congregation in Karaj, a city close to Tehran.
Irani is being held in solitary confinement and is suffering from several health issues, including internal bleeding,
Fox News said, citing a report from the advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
The group’s chief executive, Mervyn Thomas, told
BosNewsLife.com that he’s "deeply concerned" by the 18 new charges against Irani, "especially the charge of spreading corruption on Earth," which carries the death penalty.
"The charges leveled against Pastor Irani and other Christians are tantamount to an indictment of Christianity itself and mark a renewed escalation in Iran's campaign against Persian Christians under the Rouhani presidency," said Thomas.
Irani has often been interrogated since his arrest by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security in 2011, Fox News reported.
In recent months, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, who calls himself a moderate, has brutally cracked down on Iran's Christian community due to concerns by powerful religious mullahs about the spread of Christianity in the Muslim country.
Jason DeMars, founder of Present Truth Ministries, which sponsors Christian churches in the Middle East, told Fox News, "There are a lot of people who are disgruntled with the government and many for comfort and peace in their lives are turning to Christianity.
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"That’s a threat to the regime. The more people who turn from Islam, the fewer people they have on their side."
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, meanwhile, is also concerned about the fate of Assemblies of God leader Farshid Fathi, who was transferred last month from Evin Prison in Tehran to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, where Christians claim he’s being held with murderers and drug addicts, according to BosNewsLife.
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