TEHRAN, Iran — Five arrests in three cities across Iran in August suggest a continued crackdown on Iranian Christians by authorities, sources said.
The most recent of the arrests took place Aug. 21 when Ramtin Soodmand, son of martyred Assemblies of God pastor Hossein Soodmand, turned himself in after repeated calls from the Ministry of Information in Tehran. His father was executed by the state in 1990 for leaving Islam. The week before Ramtin Soodmand turned himself in, another Christian in Mashhad, Iman Rashidi, was arrested.
In the city of Kerman, Iran, a couple identified as Darioush and Shirin were reportedly arrested Aug. 8. And a Christian member of Iran’s Kurdish community, Shahin Zanboori, was arrested Aug. 9 in the southwestern city of Arak.
Secret police detained Zanboori while he was evangelizing, sources said. While in prison, he was tortured during interrogation and suffered a broken arm and leg, but he told sources he “felt God’s presence in spite of the horrific treatment he received.”
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