Iranian state media has accused recently arrested Christians of espionage, releasing a video that depicts confiscated Bibles, Christian literature, and even Alcoholics Anonymous handbooks as supposed evidence of “anti-security activities.” The report included coerced confessions in which Christians admitted to attending religious training abroad, alongside allegations of Bible “smuggling.” This follows last month’s Ministry of Intelligence announcement that at least 53 Christians had been detained. Mansour Borji, director of Article18, condemned the broadcast as a blatant example of hate speech, noting that it unfairly targets the entire evangelical community in Iran, portraying them as foreign agents without due process or evidence. He stressed that broadcasting guilt before trial is a violation of citizens’ rights and that if the government were confident in its claims, it would permit international observers to investigate freely.

Borji further argued that the accusations are part of a larger propaganda effort aimed at vilifying Christians and deflecting blame for governmental shortcomings. The campaign, he said, frames Persian-speaking Christians as scapegoats, despite Iran’s claims of religious freedom, while denying them legal places of worship and forcing believers into underground gatherings. This pattern reflects what UN officials have previously documented—Christians in Iran face arrests, long prison sentences, and indictments for ordinary acts of worship such as prayer, baptism, and celebrating Christmas. With the Bible itself labeled a “prohibited book,” these measures effectively criminalize Christian practice, further exposing the contradiction between Iran’s public stance on liberty and its systemic repression of religious minorities.

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SOURCE: Article 18