Iran (MNN) — Iran killed nearly 600 people in 2022, human rights watchdogs report. This is the highest number of hangings since 2015 and 75 percent more than 2021’s total.

Human rights groups say executions could be even higher this year due to ongoing protests.

Death certificates released online show the extent of state-sanctioned violence. “The action that the government has taken against protesters has been absolutely brutal,” Lana Silk with Transform Iran says.

“They are torturing [protestors] in the most horrific way: sexually, mentally, [and] physically. I have read reports of people who were blindfolded, disoriented, and taken to clandestine torture centers because there is no room now in the general penal system,” she continues.

“Kurdish girls are being raped, sent home, and told, ‘Go and have our babies now.’ This is the kind of thing you watch in terrifying movies, and it’s happening right now in Iran.”

Today’s protest movement began in late September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. See our full coverage here.

“It’s so difficult to understand the pain and suffering the people of Iran are now enduring [because] they have stood up and said, ‘Enough is enough,’” Silk says.

(Photo courtesy of Transform Iran)

Iran is one of the world’s most difficult places to follow Christ, yet “people are prepared to risk much to call and connect with us because they are looking for hope in this darkness. And they’re finding it in Jesus,” Silk says.

Learn more about Transform Iran’s work here and discover ways to help. Pray that Christians in Iran will find strength and endurance in the Lord.

“The Word of God tells us that the darkness cannot put out the light, and right now, that is our hope,” Silk says.

“We’re sharing the Gospel through a range of media, internet, TV, [and] radio. We have the digital church there to welcome [Iranians]. It’s safe for them; they can stay anonymous if needed.”

 

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Ollie Barker-Jones/Unsplash.