Resources
Iran's oppression of its Christians tears daughter from convert parents
Author: Fred Petrossian
Publication Date: 4/3/2021
Source: Global Voices
Lydia was 3 months old in 2019 when she was adopted by Sam Khosravi and his wife, Maryam Falahi, in Iran. At almost two years of age, and with serious health conditions, she was torn from her parents by a court ruling in July 2020. The reason was that Khosravi and his wife had converted to Christianity from Islam, and could not, therefore, parent a child originally born into a Muslim family.
The Life of Christian Iranian Women
Author: Maryam Ishaya
Publication Date: 22/3/2021
Source: Persecution - International Christian Concern
The Islamic Republic of Iran imposes austere laws towards all women. For example, the enforcement of the hijab displeases many women in Iran, as it restricts their freedom to express themselves. One lady said, “I am a Muslim, but I don’t like the way that the government is forcing us to do it and that’s why when we travel, we get rid of it.” Time and time again, Iranian women revolt against the government by publicly stripping the garment off their heads, to the point where the government took extreme measures and implemented prison sentences, fines or flagellation. Women now wear the headscarf in a ‘Baddhi-jab’, a rising fashion trend sweeping through Iran, where a majority of their hair shows, but a headscarf is still worn in accordance with the law. For Christian woman, however, they face additional scrutiny.
Iranian media hails Pope-Sistani meeting as chance for peace
Publication Date: 7/3/2021
Source: WIO News
The historic meeting of Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of Shiite Islam's top clerics, was well received across Iranian media.
The meeting became front-page news in Iran Sunday, with some media declaring it a chance for peace in the neighbouring country.
Iran Dailies Show Mixed Reactions To Pope's Visit To Iraq, Meeting With Sistani
Publication Date: 6/3/2021
Source: Iran International
Many newspapers in Tehran on Saturday covered Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq and his meeting with Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani with a mixture of cautious factual reporting devoid of opinion and analysis, and a rare acknowledgement of Sistani’s superiority to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Syria war: Ten years on, Syrian Christians say Assad 'has taken us hostage'
Author: Sophian Aubin
Publication Date: 14/3/2021
Source: Middle East Eye
Members of Syria's Christian minority now in exile say president has manipulated the community while cracking down on dissent.
Iran Christians Get Shelter in Hungary After International Outcry
Author: Stefan J Bos
Publication Date: 13/3/2021
Source: Pakistan Christian Post
An Iranian Christian father and his young son, who were detained on the Hungarian-Serbian border for 527 days, have been moved to a home in northwest Hungary following international pressure. A Baptist church helped Abouzar Soltani, a convert from Islam to Christianity, and his 12-year-old-son Armin to find an apartment in the Hungarian city of Győr, BosNewsLife learned.
Christian Political Activism in Lebanon: A Revival of Religious Nationalism in Times of Arab Upheavals
Author: Maximilian Felsch
Publisher/Publication: Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism
Volume/Issue: 18(1)
DOI/ISBN: 10.1111/sena.12262
Finding a Platform: Studying the Copts in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Author: Nelly van Doorn-Harder
Publisher/Publication: International Journal of Middle East Studies
Volume/Issue: 42(3)
DOI/ISBN: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40784826
