Iran’s security forces killed at least 19 Christians during a sweeping crackdown on anti-government protests, according to a monitoring group, which said the confirmed toll rose after two more Christian converts died from gunfire during demonstrations last month.
Article 18, a United Kingdom-based organization that monitors religious freedom in Iran, reports that Nader Mohammadi, 35, and Zahra Arjomandi, 51, were shot on Jan. 8 during separate protest gatherings roughly 1,000 miles apart, bringing the documented number of Christian fatalities in the unrest to at least 19. This figure includes members of both recognized ethnic churches and underground convert communities.
Mohammadi, who lived in Isfahan and had traveled north for work, left behind three children all aged 5 or younger. His relatives searched detention facilities and morgues for three days before identifying his body on Jan. 11 through physical marks because of the severity of his injuries.
Arjomandi was separated from her son during a communications blackout. Her son later found her wounded and took her to a hospital, where she died in his arms. Security personnel retained her body for six days and enforced burial restrictions that barred memorial services and discussion of her death.
Iran’s authorities systematically restrict religious freedom and impose arrests, lengthy prison terms and harsh treatment on Christians, especially Muslim-background converts, viewing their faith activities as a threat to state security.
In December, five Iranian Christians received prison sentences totaling 50 years after convictions tied to prayer gatherings, baptisms and Bible distribution under amended penal code provisions enforced by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court.
Judge Abolqasem Salavati issued 10-year terms to four defendants and an eight-year sentence to another, while one woman received two extra years linked to social media activity. Authorities accused the group of collusion and propaganda against the state, delayed formal notice of the verdicts by weeks after the hearings, and allowed only 20 days for appeals before the same court.
Two of the defendants previously served prison terms connected to house church activity, and authorities demanded bail amounts reaching roughly $130,000 and nearly $250,000 in separate cases. One prisoner who has rheumatoid arthritis fractured her spine after a fall from a bunk in custody, returned from the hospital without full treatment, and later developed infection complications that required renewed medical care.
Court documents referenced a 2010 speech by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that characterized house churches as a national security threat, while officials confiscated Christian texts and Bibles from the defendants and transferred the materials to the Ministry of Intelligence for examination as legal proceedings continued.
Street protests first erupted in Iran on Dec. 28 amid economic pressure and long-standing public anger toward the country’s leadership. The demonstrations spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all provinces, and global rallies also drew large crowds and political attention, according to the BBC.
The latest killings, including those of 19 Christians, occurred during demonstrations on the evenings of Jan. 8 and 9. Millions joined the protests, and security forces responded with lethal force that expanded an already growing death toll among demonstrators and bystanders.
Independent monitoring group HRANA confirmed over 7,000 protester deaths, while Iranian authorities acknowledged at least 3,000 fatalities and attributed some deaths to members of the security forces. Some reports have suggested that the number of people killed could be in the tens of thousands.
Demonstrators in several locations chanted the name of exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi and called for political change as unrest widened. Pahlavi is the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and has called for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and supported the protests.
Large solidarity demonstrations outside Iran gathered hundreds of thousands of participants, including about 250,000 people in Munich and major crowds in Los Angeles and Toronto, alongside smaller protests in cities across Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. Speakers urged continued international attention and voiced support for protesters confronting state violence.
Eyewitness testimony described live ammunition, pellet fire, beatings and arrests during confrontations with security units, along with accounts of wounded individuals denied medical help and clinics overwhelmed with bodies, according to The Guardian.
Survivors recounted officers pursuing young people through the streets while firing weapons, families hearing sustained gunfire near their homes, and injured protesters bleeding without assistance as security personnel blocked access. Witnesses also described severe long-term injuries, including blindness and embedded pellets, alongside disappearances and detentions following the demonstrations.
