Brother Behnam Irani Offered Release

Present Truth Ministries-Behnam Irani, is a pastor of the Church of Iran network, in Karaj, Iran. He was arrested on several occasions in the last ten years because of his ministry. On May 31, 2011 he began serving his prison sentence for crimes against national security. In his 2008 appeal verdict the judge states, “Considering the explicit confessions of the abovementioned individual [Irani] during the trial, that his father and mother were Muslims and he, himself, also opted for Islam when he reached maturity, and then left the holy religion of Islam and became a Christian. And that he also deceived a group of people into leaving Islam. Therefore as mentioned in … [Islamic religious text] … the abovementioned individual is definitely an innate apostate, and the sentence for innate apostasy is death.”

In recent weeks, the Iranian regime has offered release to Pastor Behnam Irani, if he would sign a paper stating that he would discontinue his ministry. He refused to sign the paper and will remain in prison until his release in 2017. I would place an “if” there, because, for those following his case, we understand that they continually bring up additional charges and threats to keep him in prison.