Displaying items by tag: Iran

Iran has a horrific track record of putting juvenile offenders to death, and Amnesty International has called on the authorities immediately to halt plans to execute three juveniles - Mohammad Kalhori, Barzan Nasrollahzadeh and Shayan Saeedpour. They were all convicted for separate crimes committed while they were under 18, and are now at risk of imminent execution. Mohammad Kalhori was only 15 when arrested. Iran is one of a handful of countries that execute young offenders, in flagrant violation of international law. In the past three years the authorities have stepped up such executions. Amnesty said there is an alarming pattern of scheduling juvenile executions at short notice to minimise interventions to save lives. More than ninety people are currently known to be on death row for crimes committed while a juvenile, though the real number is likely to be far higher.

Iran has built a new precision missile factory in the outskirts of Latakia, a port city in Syria near the Russian air force base. The Syrian government and Hezbollah reportedly assisted Iran in constructing the factory. Missile parts were ordered from Italy, China, and other Asian countries, through companies established by Syria’s scientific research centre. Meanwhile, Iran’s official news agency reported a new ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 kilometres to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. In September 2018 Israel Defence Forces issued a rare statement confirming they struck a Syrian military facility near Latakia ‘from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon’.

11 February marked the 40th anniversary of Iran’s revolution, ending a 2,500-year monarchy and creating the world’s first Islamic republic - now a complex and contradictory regime. Iran is a democracy trapped inside a theocracy - holding genuinely competitive elections, but candidates are selected by unelected clerics and lawyers. Large public demonstrations are common. Iranian women protest in the streets and online against strict female dress. Moderate president Hassan Rouhani has had his reforms undermined by the Supreme Leader. With President Trump re-imposing US sanctions, recession looms and inflation rises. An anti-West stance remains an essential element of Iran’s politics. Public frustration over economic hardship; a Supreme Leader aged 79; and uncertainty over succession. How strong is this republic?

At the UN Security Council’s Middle East monthly meeting, the Syrian ambassador threatened an airstrike on Israel’s international airport near Tel Aviv, in retaliation for Israeli air force attacks on military targets at Damascus and elsewhere in the country. When the Syrian war erupted, Israel stated it would stay out of the conflict unless actions were hostile to the Jewish state, including the transfer of arms to Iranian proxy Hezbollah. As indications grew that Iran was exploiting the void left by the Syrian turmoil to build its own presence there, Israel vowed to act against Tehran’s entrenchment, and has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets. After a daytime Israeli strike on Damascus airport, an Iranian-made surface-to-surface missile was fired from Syria into the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. IDF’s defence system intercepted the rocket. This escalation is seen as the most serious in many months.

‘Please pray for our family in Iran amid a wave of arrests.’ The Iranian church is on high alert after 150+ Christians were detained in just a few weeks at the end of 2018. Most of those detained have now been released after bail was paid. Amir Taleipour and his wife Mahnaz Harati from northeast Iran were arrested in front of their seven-year-old daughter on 6 December. Four days earlier, two sisters, Shima and Shokoofeh Zanganeh, were arrested in their homes in Ahvaz. They were reportedly beaten by security officials, who interrogated them then transferred them to Sepidar Prison. When their family tried to pay the sisters’ bail, they were turned away. Nine more were arrested in Alborz province. Thank God that the church in Iran is reportedly growing. Some analysts interpret the recent crackdown as an attempt to intimidate people interested in Christianity. Pray for Christians to stand firm in their faith.

British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, jailed in Iran since 2016, says that guards have cancelled her weekly phone calls with her husband and reduced her food rations just days after she announced she would start a hunger strike on 14 January in protest at being barred access to doctors for a breast cancer scare and a painful neurological condition. The food rations reduction affects the whole ward, and is described as a ‘cost-saving measure’. Fellow-prisoner and hunger striker Narges Mohammadi, one of Iran’s most prominent activists, was also not permitted to call her husband and children in France. Nazanin’s husband Richard, who fears she is not strong or well enough to survive a hunger strike, has called for an urgent meeting with the Iranian ambassador to London to discuss her case.

The World Bank reported that after sanctions were removed in 2016 there were many positive economic developments in Iran. In November 2018 the US reimposed sanctions and requested India, China and EU countries, to stop working with Iran. Sanctions are major causes of food insecurity, mass suffering, and eventual high poverty rates. Oil is the largest source of income. When there is no oil coming, there are no US dollars. Everything purchased in Iran is with US dollars. ‘No dollars’ causes the value of the Iranian rial to fall drastically, causing many companies to go bankrupt and having to let a lot of employees go. Sanctions increase the gap between the rich and poor. However there are a number of Christian business and mission initiatives established in Iran, including church-planting via small businesses. See

Iran was closer to developing nuclear weapons than was previously thought

 “This is courtesy Barack Obama, who enabled the Iranian nuclear program to take a giant leap forward with his disastrous nuclear deal, a deal that John Kerry and the Western European “allies” are still trying to keep alive. That deal was, as President Trump said, the worst deal ever entered into by any American President. Get the details of just how bad it was, and how much more dangerous a place it made the world, in my book The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran.

“Think tank: Iran was closer to nukes than we thought,” by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, October 24, 2018:

Iran was closer to developing nuclear weapons than previously thought, according to a think tank report issued late Tuesday.

A report by the Institute for Science and International Security said that combining new information produced by the Mossad during its January raid on a Tehran warehouse along with satellite imagery “conclusively shows that the Parchin site did house high explosive chambers capable for use in nuclear weapons research and development.”

While the focus of the report is Iran’s activities up until 2003, the premise of the report and of the documents which the Mossad appropriated from a site in Tehran (which had not been disclosed to the IAEA) is that the tests performed mean Iran could be capable of building a weapon faster than previously thought.

There are unending debates about whether the Islamic Republic is currently around 12 months or closer to six months from being able to produce a nuclear bomb, if it chose to do so.

Iran has already overcome some of the obstacles to building a bomb which experts thought it had not yet overcome, based on the new report. This would shorten the countdown number.

Moreover, the report implies that based on photos from the Mossad appropriated documents, Iran has not accounted for complex equipment that would be used for the process of developing a nuclear weapon – meaning the IAEA should be confronting Tehran about where and whether it is hiding it….

The report said that the Mossad-obtained “nuclear archive shows that Iran conducted at Parchin more high explosive tests related to nuclear weapons development than previously thought…this work appears to have involved more than what the IAEA called feasibility and scientific studies,” as the IAEA asserted in a December 2015 report….”

Jihadwatch.org

Pray that the Iranians would be foiled in developing or getting access to nuclear weapons which would be extremely dangerous and destabilizing for our world. Pray for the overthrow of the tyrannical Muslim mullahs that dominate that nation and are the world most significant source of international terrorism. Pray also for the rapidly growing underground movement for Christ in that country.

Bringing Hope to the People of Iran

Calling all followers of Jesus Christ around the world!

On November 4, 2018, join Heart4Iran, multiple ministry partners, and thousands of Christian brothers and sisters worldwide to pray for Iran and bring hope to her people.

God is moving mightily in and through Iran, reaching millions of Persians with His love and truth. Together, we can continue sharing the Gospel with Muslims throughout this nation.

For years, the growing Christian movement in Iran has been largely ignored in the mainstream media, and Iran is consistently vilified by the Western world. But God is moving mightily in and through Iran, reaching millions of Persians with His life-changing, heart-transforming love and truth!

November 4, 2018, marks, to the day, the 39thanniversary of the hostage crisis in Iran with the U.S. Embassy. This is a critical time to come before the Lord in prayer alongside Iranian Christians and for the nation of Iran.

On the International Day of Prayer, a brand-new prayer program in Farsi will air on our partner stations, Mohabat TV, SAT-7 PARS, and Shabakeh 7. This insightful, heartfelt call to prayer will share why prayer is so important for the people of Iran, as well as specific prayer needs.

We will also be broadcasting the JESUS film and two other transformational videos. Our hope is that these moving productions will draw Iranians who don’t yet know Jesus Christ to seek Him. Please pray these four broadcasts will accomplish this goal – and that everyone who watches will be impacted by the truth of the Gospel.

Our ultimate goal is that thousands of men, women, and children will join us in prayer on this special day. Please visit roozedoa.com to learn more about the International Day of Prayer and discover prayer needs unique to Iran. Plus, you’ll be able to let us know you are praying and encouraging our Iranian brothers and sisters.

Ultimately, the mission of the International Day of Prayer is to pray diligently for and with the people of Iran and continue seeing lives impacted by the eternal Gospel throughout this nation.

Again, for additional information please visit: www.roozedoa.com.

International Day of Prayer: Pray for Iran November 4, 2018

Bringing Hope to the People of Iran Prayer Points

• Pray for peace across the nation of Iran and in her relationships with other nations.
• Pray for the Western world to see the people of Iran for who they really are as children of God, replacing any prejudices with Christ’s love and compassion.
• Pray that God would raise up and equip strong Christian leaders in Iran to help lead the house church movement. Pray for these leaders to walk together in unity.
• Pray that every Iranian follower of Jesus Christ will discover a house church where he or she can build relationships, study God’s Word, and grow in the faith.
• Pray for persecution of Christians to cease immediately.
• Pray for Christians to be brave and full of faith as they share the Gospel.
• Pray for God to open the hearts and minds of Muslims, preparing them to hear the Gospel and respond.
• Pray for Iran’s leaders and her people to experience the life-changing, heart- transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Pray for thousands – even millions – of Iranians to watch the broadcasts of the prayer program, JESUS film, and other transformational videos. Also pray they will hear and understand the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ and respond to it.
• Pray that every person in Iran will have access to a printed, digital, or audio Bible in their own mother tongue.
• Pray for God to hear us on this special International Day of Prayer, according to His will.

70% of Iranians are under 30 and are the most politically active in the 57 Islamic nations. Iranians are eligible to vote from age 15. President Rouhani promised to improve Western ties, revitalise the economy and implement a civil rights charter. But soaring inflation due to damaging US sanctions has prompted Iranian youth to protest regularly against the regime. Pray for peaceful political changes. Although Iran has its own state-controlled Internet and doesn’t support Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, Iranian youth are internet-savvy and network the same as other teenagers - despite laws strictly forbidding it. Pray for Christian broadcasting in Farsi that is secretly reaching today’s fast growing underground Church. Iran and Israel enjoyed good relations until Iran’s Islamic revolution. May God’s Spirit reignite a flame of peace between the nations. For over thirty years, there was a Star of David on the roof of Tehran airport’s main terminal building. The symbol stood there in silence, until Google disclosed it: see

(Linda Digby – Prayer Alert Team)