The group claiming responsibility for the messages is believed to have ties to Iranian security, which is evidently outsourcing the dirty work for the sake of plausible deniability. “Iran Threatens To Kill Evangelical Christians Unless They “Repent”, Christians say,” from BosNewsLife, October 2:
TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– Militants with suspected ties to Iranian security forces have threatened to kill nearly a dozen evangelical Christians who fled Iran unless they “repent” and return to Islam, well-informed sources told BosNewsLife early Sunday, October 2.
At least 11 Iranian Christians received electronic mail messages from “˜The Unknown Soldiers Of The Hidden Imam” calling on them to either repent or face extra-judicial execution, said an Iranian church group and religious rights organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
The email threats came as in Iran Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was awaiting a possible death sentence as early as Sunday, October 2, on charges of “apostasy”, or abandoning Islam, although an Iranian official and government-linked media included “offenses” ranging from “rape and extortion” to “security crimes” to the long list of alleged wrongdoings.
The “˜Unknown Soldiers” are alleged to have links with Iranian security services, CSW told BosNewsLife in a statement.
Their email, which was sent to each individual last month, reportedly warns the recipients that although they may have managed to flee Iran, “they are not hidden from the acute eyes of the Unknown Soldiers”. […]
“Otherwise, according to the Fatwa given by Mehdi the Hidden Imam, they must be killed,” the email reportedly says.
CSW”s Chief Executive Officer Mervyn Thomas told BosNewsLife that “The threat against the eleven Iranian citizens in the Diaspora is an appalling and vicious move by a group suspected of close association with the Iranian security forces.”…