Read Iran Attempting to Root Out Christianity Pastor by Pastor: Staggering Truth about Persecution, by Matthew Clark, at aclj.org.
"How does Iran circumvent its own constitution and treaty obligations? First, it claims that converts to Christianity aren’t really Christians deserving of any protections under the law. Second, even though “apostasy” is not a codified crime, Iran makes judicial determinations according to radical Shariah law. In fact, “Article 167 of the Constitution instructs judicial authorities to make their judgments based on ‘authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa,’ rather than dismissing a case for lack of a codified crime or sentence.” In other words, Iranian judges, like that of many radical Islamic nations operating under Shariah law, use the opinions and proclamations of radical clerics in determining that someone is an apostate and must be punished under Islamic law, and in an alarming number of cases even executed. In short, Christian conversion is anathema to the Islamic regime.
"As a result, “prosecutors often bring charges against Christians, asserting that their Christian activities amount to crimes such as ‘propaganda against the Regime’ and ‘acting against national security.’ The reality is, although Iran acknowledges constitutional protections, it fails to uphold them for its Christian community.”
"Since 2005, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president, “the rate at which Christians are arrested, interrogated, detained, and prosecuted in violation of their fundamental human rights has dramatically increased.” "
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