Jama'at-e Rabbani () is the Iranian branch of the Assemblies of God, one of the largest evangelical Pentecostal Christian churches. It has its centre in Tehran, Iran. Many (about 80%) of its adherents are converts from Islam, the remainder are converts from Iranian Christian ethnic minorities. The services are conducted in Persian and Armenian. Official Iranian perceptions The Iranian government, especially in its post-1979 Revolutionary Islamist form, is highly suspicious of all Christian religious groups, other than those native to Iran: namely, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Armenian Apostolic Church, both of which have been present in the lands of the Persian Empire since between the 1st and 4th centuries A.D. During the late 17th and again in the 19th centuries, Iran was quite open to foreign influence, including Western Christian missionaries who founded schools, hospitals, and who proselytized Eastern Christians as well as Muslims. These groups, among them French Jesuit Roman Catholics, British Anglicans, and American Assemblies of God had some small successes and the current presence in Iran of these denominations is due to their influence. Conservatives consider these groups to be "western innovations" and are not fully trusted. This sentiment is often shared even by the native Christian groups. Since the Islamic Revolution, however, the institutionalization of Islamic Sharia law has come down especially hard on the Assemblies of God because of their unique success in converting Muslims to Christianity. This success is due principally to its principle of using the vernacular Persian language as the language of its prayer and not one of the several ancient languages (i.e., Syriac, Armenian) used for prayer by the other Christian groups. Religious background Apostasy is considered the one unpardonable sin in Islam, so those who proselytize or otherwise encourage Muslims away from Islam may be put to death for blaspheming against Islam and Muhammad. The persecution of Assemblies of God Christians in Iran today is not a series of isolated events or the result of individual prejudices but rather a state policy implemented at all levels in various forms. It affects both individuals as well as the church as a whole. Controversy In the mid-1990s, Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr, head of the Iranian Assemblies of God, was ordered to comply with the following directives: No church service must be conducted in Persian language (the language of the people) All members must be issued with membership cards