Free Republic

Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was originally sentenced to death in his native country for his Christian faith, was acquitted of apostasy charges and released from custody. Nadarkhani, 32, was imprisoned for three years and waiting execution for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. His charges were lowered to evangelizing to Muslims, which carried a three-year sentence. He was released with time served, according to the American Center for Law and Justice, a Washington-based watchdog group that had been campaigning for the pastor's release. "Today our sources in Iran reported that Pastor Youcef was acquitted of apostasy and released from...

IRAN: Act by 9 November to call for Pastor Nadarkhani's pardon during Eid Pastor Nadarkhani was arrested in Rasht in 2009 while attempting to register his church. In 2010 he was tried and found guilty of apostasy (abandoning Islam), and was sentenced to death. He now awaits a decision on his case from the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, and a formal written verdict. His life is still in the balance.

Washington D.C., Oct 13, 2011 / 12:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Washington, D.C.-based human rights organization has clarified that the life of Iranian Christian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani remains in the hands of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.“The latest reports indicating that the Supreme Court has called for yet another retrial are misleading,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice on Oct. 12.Sekulow explained that “the judicial system in Iran operates in a substantially different way than court systems Americans are familiar with.” He made his remarks after news outlets reported Oct. 11 that the...

Eleven Iranian Christians who fled Iran in the wake of a government campaign against evangelical Christianity have received threats via email from ‘the unknown soldiers of the Hidden Imam’ calling on them to either repent or face extra-judicial execution. The ‘unknown soldiers’ are alleged to have links with Iranian security services. The email, which was sent to each individual on 14 September, warned the recipients that although they may have managed to flee Iran, they are not hidden from the ‘acute eyes of the unknown soldiers’, who claim they have been advancing to the heart of the ‘Zionist regime’ over...

Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country's Gilan Province since October 2009. Now Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for apostasy for the grace of God and freedom In Christ which he believes. Here is how a real Christian suffers under the name of Christ Jesus.

CSW is urgently calling for action on behalf of Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani who faces execution anytime from Thursday onwards after refusing to renounce his faith. Pastor Nadarkhani is currently on trial in Rasht. He has appeared in court three times this week and each time has refused to renounce his faith when asked to do so by the court.

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Iran is under increasing pressure from leaders around the world to halt the execution of Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who on Wednesday refused for the fourth and final time to recant his faith and could be executed at any time. In the U.S., Speaker of the House John Boehner released a statement urging Iran to spare the pastor's life and release him. Overseas, British Foreign Secretary William Hague also called on Iran to overturn the sentence. Observers say external pressure could be critical in preventing the Iranian government from performing its first apostasy execution since 1990. Arrested...

Deny Jesus Christ... Or Die.. That's pretty much the situation a Christian pastor is facing in Tehran. In Iran the Christian pastor could be executed this week... unless he recants his faith in Jesus Christ. So far he's refused to recant his faith. (He's in court facing charges of apostasy.) "Yousef Nadarkhani, who leads a 400-person house church movement, refused in court on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 to recant Christianity and was scheduled to get two more chances on Sept. 27 and Sept. 28, according to the British-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which monitors religious freedom."