An Iranian judge sentenced a Christian man to have his lips burnt with a cigarette for eating during the day in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The barbaric punishment was carried out in public in a square in the city of Kermanshah.
Five other Muslim men were also flogged in public with 70 lashes for not fasting during Ramadan, the city’s deputy governor Ali Ashraf Karami said.

A spokesperson from The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a political coalition which opposes the government, denounced the treatment as ‘savage’ and called on western countries to take action
They said: ‘The silence of the world community, especially of western countries, vis-à-vis these medieval punishments under the excuse of having nuclear talks with Iran has intensified the brutal and systematic violation of human rights in Iran.

‘This will ultimately embolden the Iranian regime to continue its nuclear projects more than before.’
But earlier this year the UN blasted Iran for the persecution of Christians in a damning report laid bare to the world in March.

The detailed report found that Iran has continued to imprison Christians for their faith and designated house churches and evangelical Christians as ‘threats to national security.’

At least 49 Christians were among 307 religious minorities being held in Iranian jails as of January 2014, noted the UN, which also criticised the regime for its hostility to Jews, Baha’is, Zoroastrians and Dervish Muslims.

In its annual report on people imprisoned for their faith around the world, the Brussels-based organization Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) named Iran as one of five countries with the largest number of ‘freedom of religion or belief prisoners.’

There are an estimated 250,000 Christians in Iran’s 76 million strong population.

They all face torture, imprisonment or the death sentence under Sharia law for not observing Islamic religious festivals and dress codes.

Thousands of persecuted Christians have fled the country, which saw Hossein Soodmand hanged in 2008 for following the faith.