Iran is the site of the fastest growing church in the world, but Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs said that our brothers and sisters there are paying a heavy price.
"As Christians, they are seen as allies of the U.S., allies of Israel, and in fact, one of the things that has happened even since the war this summer is we're seeing more serious charges against Christians when they're arrested," said Nettleton.
Since the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, charges against Christians are now much more political in nature.
"A year ago, they might have been charged with having illegal printed materials like the Bible, they might have been charged with being some type of a security threat or undermining the government, and now, they're being charged with espionage, they are being charged as spies, sometimes as Zionist spies."
That charge carries a potential death penalty.
"It seems to have grown out of the war with Israel, and out of that idea that Christians are sympathetic to Israel, they're sympathetic to America," said Nettleton. "The idea that is common in the Middle East is that Christianity is a western religion, America is a Christian country, so therefore if you're a Christian you’re sympathetic to America."
