{"id":53268,"date":"2025-03-11T14:02:24","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T05:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=53268"},"modified":"2025-03-11T14:38:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T05:38:37","slug":"vomk-report-339","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2025\/03\/11\/vomk-report-339\/","title":{"rendered":"IRAN: 2 CHRISTIAN HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS RE-ARRESTED, RETURNED TO INFAMOUS PRISON"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53261″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Two Christians in their 60s who were pardoned and released after a combined six years in prison on charges related to their leadership of house churches have been re-arrested. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea, <\/span>Nasser <\/span>Navard<\/span> Gol-<\/span>Tapeh<\/span> and Joseph Shahbazian were both <\/span>taken into custody<\/span> by intelligence agents at their homes in the Tehran region on the morning of 6 February and <\/span>then sent <\/span>to the city\u2019s notorious Evin Prison.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley says that the reason for the <\/span>re-<\/span>arrests <\/span>remains<\/span> unclear and that the men may have been arrested as part of a wider operation targeting Tehran Christians.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Nasser is a Muslim background believer<\/span>, while<\/span> Joseph is <\/span>Armenian-Iranian<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> says Representative Foley. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span>\u201c<\/span>B<\/span>oth <\/span>were <\/span>originally <\/span>sentenced to 10 <\/span>years<\/span> imprisonment on <\/span>charges of national security violations <\/span>due to their involvement in house churches<\/span>, but both had their sentences reduced and had been released and permitted to return to their homes<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Voice of the Martyrs Korea previously conducted a multi-year campaign urging Christians to send letters of encouragement to Nasser in prison. She says that Nasser<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s health is not good due to a severe gum disease that worsened in prison. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>His family worried that he would lose all of his teeth,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> says Representative Foley. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Now that he is refusing to eat due to his re-arrest, we are urging Christians everywhere to pray for his health and stamina, and for Joseph as well.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Nasser, who is 63 years old, was released in October 2022 after <\/span>serving <\/span>nearly five years <\/span>of a ten-year sentence<\/span>, while Joseph, who is 60, was released the following September after spending just over a year in Evin.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53264″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Na<\/span>s<\/span>ser<\/span> was <\/span>previously <\/span>arrested <\/span>in <\/span>June 2016 when 30 intelligence agents raided an engagement party at a house near Tehran. The court convicted Nas<\/span>s<\/span>er bas<\/span>ed<\/span> on a Ministry of Intelligence report that <\/span>claimed <\/span>he <\/span>had <\/span>attempted<\/span> to undermine national security by <\/span>establishing<\/span> an \u201cillegal house church network<\/span>\u201d.<\/span> The court refused to present the report to Na<\/span>s<\/span>ser\u2019s lawyer, who was not allowed access to <\/span>the government\u2019s <\/span>case file<\/span> on his client<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Na<\/span>s<\/span>ser sent out a letter from prison on Jan. 31, 2020<\/span>, published by Voice of the Martyrs Korea and other groups<\/span>. He wrote<\/span> in part<\/span>, \u201cI am confident in all hardships and I believe I will become free by Him who I have hope to (my Lord) because the Lord our God does not forget his children \u2026 so let me be bold and say, \u2018The Lord is my helper.\u2019<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Nas<\/span>s<\/span>er is single and lived with his elderly mother before his previous imprisonment<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> says Representative Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>His mother <\/span>died<\/span> one month after <\/span>he<\/span> was released from prison.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Armenian-Iranian<\/span> pastor Joseph Shahbazian was sentenced to 10 years in prison <\/span>in 2022 <\/span>on charges of \u2018Acting against national security by promoting Zionist Christianity\u2019. He was also sentenced to <\/span>a <\/span>two<\/span>–<\/span>year exile <\/span>to <\/span>follow his release, as well as a two<\/span>–<\/span>year travel ban and a two-year ban on membership <\/span>in <\/span>any church group.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>In<\/span> May 2023, <\/span>his <\/span>prison <\/span>sentence was reduced <\/span>to two years <\/span>and the <\/span>sentence of <\/span>exile <\/span>was lifted <\/span>by <\/span>the <\/span>Court of Appeal after the court found <\/span>\u2018<\/span>no sufficient reason for choosing the maximum punishment<\/span>\u2019<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> says Representative Foley. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>He was able to <\/span>return to his family, which include<\/span>d<\/span> his first grandchild born <\/span>while he was in prison<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53262″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh (left) and Joseph Shahbazian (right) (photo from Article 18)” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]She says her organization hopes to add <\/span>Nasser and Joseph <\/span>to their <\/span>prisoner <\/span>letter writing program once details of their detention are confirmed.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]According to <\/span>Representative Foley<\/span>, <\/span>writing letters to Christians imprisoned for their faith is a ministry often neglected by Christians. \u201cMost Christians don\u2019t realize that it is often possible to write letters to Christians <\/span>like <\/span>Nas<\/span>s<\/span>er and Joseph<\/span>, <\/span>to encourage them while they are in prison,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cChristians assume that the letters would be blocked or would create further troubles for Christian prisoners<\/span>, or they worry that they themselves will be tracked somehow for writing a letter<\/span>. <\/span>Sometimes they think that since they <\/span>don\u2019t<\/span> speak the prisoner\u2019s language, it is not possible to write. <\/span>But our website <\/span>maintains<\/span> a list of prisoners in places where mail can be received, and where a simple letter of Christian encouragement will not create trouble for the prisoner<\/span> or the letter writer<\/span>. <\/span>We provide the text in the prisoner\u2019s language so that a letter can be easily cut and pasted. <\/span>It\u2019s<\/span> easy, it only takes about 5 minutes and a small amount of money for the postage. F<\/span>ormer prisoners <\/span>frequently<\/span> tell us how much letters from Christians around the world <\/span>meant to them <\/span>during their imprisonment.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The ministry\u2019s website currently lists the information and addresses for 1<\/span>0<\/span> Christians currently imprisoned for their faith, in countries including China, North Korea, and Eritrea. The list is accessible at <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/<\/span>en\/<\/span>prisoner-profiles\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”53261″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Two Christians in their 60s who were pardoned and released after a combined six years in prison on charges related to their leadership of house churches …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":53260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53268"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53279,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53268\/revisions\/53279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}