(CBN) – Iranian intelligence agents stormed a 100-year-old Assyrian Presbyterian church in Tabriz, removed the cross from its steeple, and shut it down. The Assyrian International News Agency reports that the incident took place on May 9. “They made it clear that the Assyrian people are no longer allowed to hold any worship service there,” a source told the London-based Iranian Christian advocacy group, Article18. According to the source, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO) “entered our church compound and changed all the locks on the doors,
removed the cross from the church’s high tower, installed some monitoring instruments and started to threaten and force our custodian to leave his place inside the compound immediately.” The church, which is considered a National Heritage site, was “confiscated” following a Revolutionary Court order in 2011. However, Church members were allowed to use the facilities until Iranian government authorities closed it earlier this month. It is dangerous to be a Christian in Iran. Believers are forbidden to share their faith with their Muslim neighbors or even holding church services in Persian, Iran’s national language. READ MORE
