The US Commission on International Religious Freedom in its annual report designated Iran as one the “Countries of Particular Concern”.

Even if there’s nothing new about the hostile relationship between the two countries’ governments, the report does shed light on how religious minorities are forced to live under harsh circumstances. 

According to the 2019 report, Christians, “especially those who converted from Islam”, continued to be “persecuted and imprisoned for practising their faith”.

Furthermore, USCIRF calls on the US State Department to “press [Iran] for the release of all religious prisoners of conscience” and “impose targeted sanctions on Iranian government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom by freezing those individuals’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States under human rights-related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations”. This report was cited by  Article 18, a UK-based advocacy group.

India is the focus of US religious freedom commission’s annual report

Photo is courtesy of Unsplash.