Iranian Pastor Remains on Death Row, Some Reports Say

A written verdict from an Iranian court has cast further doubt on reports that the death sentence of an Iranian pastor has been annulled.

The U.S.-based Present Truth Ministries said the awaited written verdict had been handed down from the Supreme Court to the lawyer of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who is appealing his death sentence for apostasy. The organization said it had not seen a translation of the verdict yet, but that its Iranian sources report that the written verdict does not annul the death sentence.

One source told the organization that the Supreme Court appears to have agreed with the death sentence as “it is based on fatwas of Ayatollahs Khomeini, Khamenei and Makarem Shirazi.”

“While agreeing with the death sentence, the Supreme Court pointed out procedural flaws and is asking the lower court to re-examine the case,” the source said. “This is the only binding point of the ruling.”

Another Iranian source told the organization that there was no guarantee that the pastor would not be executed before the case was re-examined.

Present Truth said it appeared that judges were looking for clarification from the lower court on whether Pastor Nadarkhani was truly a Muslim before converting to Christianity.

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