14.09.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Apostasy is liable to prosecution; Evangelical church leaders are admonished not to evangelize Muslims or to allow Muslims to attend church services ("International Religious Freedom Report 2007") [ID 21188]

"Apostasy, specifically conversion from Islam, is punishable by death, although there were no reported cases of the death penalty being applied for apostasy during the reporting period. Proselytizing of Muslims by non-Muslims is illegal.

Evangelical church leaders are subject to pressure from authorities to sign pledges that they will not evangelize Muslims or allow Muslims to attend church services."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

In December 2005 Baha'i prisoner, Zabihullah Mahrami, who was sentenced for apostasy, died in prison ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20760]

"In December 2005 the longest held Baha'i prisoner, Zabihullah Mahrami, died in prison of unknown causes. Mahrami was arrested in 1995 and faced a life sentence for apostasy."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

In 2004 there were about 100.000 Muslim-born citizens who have converted to Christianity ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20780]

"[...] Some unofficial estimates circa 2004 indicated that there were approximately 100,000 Muslim-born citizens who had converted to Christianity. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Conversion from Islam ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 17547]

"Apostasy, specifically conversion from Islam, may be punishable by death. While there were no reported cases of the death penalty being applied for apostasy during the reporting period, on November 22, 2005, unidentified persons killed a man who had converted to Christianity more than ten years earlier. He had allegedly received death threats over the past few years. Reportedly, his death was followed by repression of and threats against other Christians, including arrests of ten Christians."

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Discrimination against Religious Minorities ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 17548]

"Members of religious minorities, excluding Sunni Muslims, were prevented from serving in the judiciary and security services and from becoming public school principals. Applicants for public sector employment were screened for their adherence to and knowledge of Islam, although members of religious minorities could serve in lower ranks of government employment, with the exception of Baha'is. Government workers who did not observe Islam's principles and rules were subject to penalties. The constitution states that the country's army must be Islamic and must recruit individuals who are committed to the objectives of the Islamic revolution; however, in practice no religious minorities were exempt from military service. The law forbids non-Muslims from holding officer positions over Muslims in the armed forces. Members of religious minorities with a college education could serve as an officer during their mandatory military service but could not be a career military officer. University applicants were required to pass an examination in Islamic, Christian, or Jewish theology, but there was no test for the Baha'i faith. All public school students, including non-Muslims, must study Islam. With the exception of Baha'is, the Government generally allowed recognized religious minorities to conduct religious education for their adherents, although it restricted this right considerably in some cases. The Ministry of Education, which imposed certain curriculum requirements, supervised these schools. With few exceptions, the directors of such private schools must be Muslim. Attendance at the schools was not mandatory for recognized religious minorities. The Ministry of Education must approve all textbooks used in coursework, including religious texts. Recognized religious minorities could provide religious instruction in non-Persian languages, but such texts required approval by the authorities. This approval requirement sometimes imposed significant translation expenses on minority communities. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Death penalty for conversion of a Muslim to a non-Muslim religion ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 17648]

"[...] Conversion of a Muslim to a non-Muslim religion is considered apostasy under the law and is punishable by the death penalty, although it was unclear whether this punishment had been enforced in recent years. Similarly, non-Muslims could not proselytize Muslims without putting their own lives at risk. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

A muslim convert to Christianity killed, another taken into custody ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 17653]

"On November 22, 2005, a Muslim convert to Christianity, Ghorban Tori, was kidnapped from his house in the northeast and killed. His body was later returned to his house. Tori was a pastor at an independent house church of converted Christians. After the killing, security officials searched his house for Bibles and banned Christian books in Persian. In the previous week, according to some sources, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security arrested and tortured ten Christians in several cities.

On May 2, 2006, a Muslim convert to Christianity, Ali Kaboli, was taken into custody in Gorgan, after several years of police surveillance and threatened prosecution if he did not leave the country. He was interrogated and was held incommunicado. So far no charges have been filed against him."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Christian convert to Islam sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for deceiving the army forces about his religion and "acts against national security" ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 18829]

"Hamid Pourmand, who had converted to Christianity from Islam over 25 years previously, was sentenced in February by a military court to three years’ imprisonment on charges of deceiving the Iranian armed forces about his religion and “acts against national security”. In May he was acquitted of apostasy."

Document(s): Open document

06.12.2004 - Source: German Institute of Global and Area Studies

Possible risk for apostate converts; clandestine meetings of apostates are possible, if they become known authorities would probably persecute participants on the grounds of taking part in illegal oppositional activities; established Christian churches do not accept converts, members of proselytizing Protestant churches are at risk of persecution (expert opinion, in German) ("Possible risk for apostate converts; clandestine meetings of apostates are possible, if they become known authorities would probably persecute participants on the grounds of taking part in illegal oppositional activities; established Christian churches do not accept converts, members of proselytizing Protestant churches are at risk of persecution (expert opinion, in German)") [#29124],  [ID 8864]

Document(s): Open document

22.11.2004 - Source: German Institute of Global and Area Studies

Situation of apostate converts; Conversion to christianity is not possible according to Islamic notions; Conversion regarded as taking part in illegal political organisation by authorities; no internal flight alternative if a convert is threatened by family members (expert opinion, in German) ("Stellungnahme vom 22.11.2004 an VG Karlsruhe - A 06 K 11380/02 -") [#29128],  [ID 8865]

Document(s): Open document

10.2002 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: Conversion from Islam to another religion is not acceptable in Islamic law ("Country Assessment - October 2002") [#9556],  [ID 8867]

"5.54. As stated above, proselytising Christian churches, especially Evangelicals, are likely to be regarded more suspiciously by the Iranian authorities. Apostasy, or conversion from Islam to another religion, is not acceptable in Islamic law. An innate-apostate (one whose parents were Muslims and who embraced Islam but later left Islam), if a man, is to be executed. If a woman, she is to be imprisoned for life, but will be released if she repents. A national apostate (a person converting from another faith to Islam, and then reconverting back to the other faith) is to be encouraged to repent and, upon refusal to repent, is to be executed. The most prominent cases of apostasy appear to occur from Islam to Christianity. Proselytising apostates (converts who have begun preaching Christianity) are likely to face execution. 17 clerics are known to have been in detention in 1995."

Document(s): Open document

06.12.2001 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR: Those who converted in Iran should be recognized as refugees, in the case of exile converts the sincerity and publicity of their conversion should be decisive ("Stellungnahme: Iran - Konvertiten") [#7487],  [ID 8868]

"Iranische Muslime, die zu einer anderen Religion konvertieren, gelten als der
Apostasie schuldig. Das Verbrechen der Apostasie wird nach dem islamischen Recht
– wie es im Iran angewandt wird – abhängig von den Umständen des Einzelfalls mit
der Todesstrafe oder mit lebenslanger Haft bestraft. Die Art der Strafe hängt davon ab, ob die Eltern des Betreffenden Moslems waren oder nicht. Waren die Eltern (oder auch nur ein Elternteil) Moslems, soll ein Apostat hingerichtet werden. Wenn die Eltern keine Moslems waren, die Person somit zuerst zum Islam konvertiert ist bevor sie wieder zu einer anderen Religion konvertierte, soll zuallererst eine Aufforderung ergehen, zum Islam zurückzukehren. Erst im Falle der Verweigerung soll die Todesstrafe ausgesprochen werden. Es scheint, dass bei Frauen eher Haft- und Prügelstrafen und nicht die Todesstrafe verhängt werden. Abgesehen davon ist es jedoch immer wieder zu Hinrichtungen gekommen, vor allem in den frühen Jahren der Revolution. Derzeit scheint die Regierung des Iran allerdings keine aktive und systematische Politik der Untersuchung und Verfolgung von Apostasiefällen zu betreiben.

In Fällen, in denen Verfolgung aufgrund von Konversion vorgebracht wird, ist es
ratsam, zwischen Personen, die noch vor ihrer Ausreise oder Flucht aus dem Iran
konvertiert sind und die den religiösen Einrichtungen, zu denen sie konvertiert sind, bekannt sind einerseits, und jenen, die erst nach der Ankunft in einem möglichen Aufnahmeland konvertieren andererseits, zu unterscheiden. Abhängig von der Glaubwürdigkeit des Vorbringens sollten diejenigen Personen, die im Iran konvertiert sind, unbedingt als Flüchtling anerkannt werden, weil sie ein großes Risiko auf sich genommen haben und dadurch das Ausmaß ihrer Überzeugung offenkundig wird. Die Anerkennung ihrer Flüchtlingseigenschaft würde sich auf ihre aufrichtige Furcht vor Verfolgung im Fall ihrer Entdeckung und der daran anschließenden Strafverfolgung gründen. Wenn Personen außerhalb des Iran konvertieren, sollte im Einzelfall vor allem über die Glaubwürdigkeit der Konversion als Hauptfrage entschieden werden, wobei die Gründe für die Konversion und das Ausmaß der öffentlichen Bekanntheit des Falls entscheidend in Betracht zu ziehen sind."

Document(s): hcr-irn061201-konvert.pdf

11.2001 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

00.11.2001 – ACCORD: Apostasy is punishable by death or lifetime imprisonment; persons who converted in Iran should be recognized as refugees, in the case of exile converts the sincerity and publicity of their conversion should be decisive ("7th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Berlin, 11 - 12 June 2001: Final Report - Iran") [#7661],  [ID 8869]

"An Iranian Muslim who converts to another religion is considered guilty of apostasy. The crime of apostasy is, in accordance with Islamic Law as applied in Iran, punishable by death or lifetime imprisonment, depending on the particular circumstances of the case. With regard to the punishment, a distinction is made. For those born from Muslim
parents (even if only one of them is a Muslim) anyone found converting shall be executed. Those born from non-Muslim parents who had converted to Islam and then converted again to another religion, shall be invited to repent. In the event they refuse they shall be executed. With regard to women detention and flogging shall be applied instead of the death sentence. There have been executions, particularly in the early
years of the revolution. It would appear that at present the Government is not pursuing an active and systematic policy of investigation and prosecution of cases of apostasy. However, it should be noted that some of the Baha’is sentenced to death have been charged with apostasy.

Interestingly, there are also reports of Armenian-Orthodox - not even Evangelical - Christians, who converted to Islam, and were ostracised by their communities. These reports are very hard to confirm, however.

When confronted with cases claiming persecution because of their conversion, it would be advisable to make a distinction between those individuals who have genuinely converted in Iran prior to departure or flight and are known to the religious institutions with whom they have converted and those who decided to convert after arrival in a potential host country. Depending on the credibility of the case, those who converted in Iran should definitely be recognized, as the risk they have taken is very great and would show the level of personal commitment. Recognition of their refugee status would be based on the genuine fear of persecution if detected and if prosecuted.

Concerning proofs or certification that show that somebody has converted prior to her/his departure and is recognized by her/his own religious institution, in individual cases such papers may have been issued. Nonetheless, as these kinds of documents will put a person at risk when trying to leave Iran, it is more likely that they are not issued
and that a refugee would not carry them with her/him.

It is important to add that conversion abroad could also be perfectly genuine. Iran is a place where people are fine as long as they do what they do behind closed doors and within their own four walls. People may drink, practice homosexuality and their religious faith after conversion. Yet, if a person who converted abroad walked down central Tehran wearing a cross, s/he would certainly have to face difficulties. S/he may not be at risk if s/he keeps a low profile. In general, however, it is very difficult to assess what is going to happen to a person who converted to another faith upon return. In such cases, a case by case assessment would need to be made taking into account the ultimate reasons for conversion and the degree of publicity surrounding the case. In addition, although Iranian embassies may well monitor activities of Iranian exile
communities it would be highly unusual if they kept track of Iranian baptisms abroad."

Document(s): cois2001-irn.pdf

01.10.2000 - Source: Danish Immigration Service

Danish Immigration Service: Conversion from Islam to another religion is forbidden under Iranian law ("Report on fact-finding mission to Iran; 9 - 17 September 2000") [#9593],  [ID 8866]

"Conversion from Islam to another religion is forbidden under Iranian law and can lead to the death
penalty.
In that connection, a Western embassy said that there had been no reports of persons being executed
on the grounds of conversion from Islam since 1994. In the source's opinion, although a convert
may still be sentenced to a term of imprisonment if the authorities hear about his conversion, it is
very rare nowadays for a criminal case to be brought against a convert. The source stressed that
converts often remain Muslim for official purposes.
The source thought that converts who are known to the Iranian authorities are summoned to an
interview at the Ministry of Information in order to be reprimanded. They are then allowed to go
after being warned not to talk about what has taken place at the Ministry. If a criminal case is
brought against them, they will be accused of something other than conversion.Many individuals try to convert with a view to emigrating, considering that the opportunities for
obtaining asylum in the West are thereby greater.
The Christian churches send letters of recommendation to converts and other persons belonging to
the church on request. The source stressed that such letters are issued only to persons known to the
church. The letters of recommendation may be authenticated by the individual churches. In that
connection, the source considered that 80 to 90% of the letters of recommendation presented in the
West by the Armenian church are false.
In Iran, conversion is a lengthy process. A person who contacts a Christian church is told that the
church is open to him, and that he must become conversant with the Christian scriptures and take
part in church activities. After a few years, the candidate may be baptised.
According to the source, the churches with which he was acquainted are cautious about accepting
converts. A person may be baptised after careful consideration, and the baptism ceremony will take
place in strict secrecy. According to the Western source, the Armenian, Assyrian and Chaldean
churches do not accept converts, whereas the Protestant churches and the "Assembly of God"
church do. According to another Western source, those churches also actively proselytise.
According to one of the Western sources, marriages between converts and persons born Christian
are generally not accepted by the Christian community."

Document(s): Open document