Christmas · Krismas

Culture of origin: Christian · Cultural

Holiday sources: Assyrian · Australia (national) · Canada (federal) · Christianity · Eastern Orthodox (new calendar) · France · Germany (nationwide) · Iran · United Kingdom (England and Wales) · United States (federal)

Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus, which the New Testament places in Bethlehem. The church fixed the date as 25 December in the early fourth century; it is the earliest attested date, though most churches do not hold it to be the historical one. It is marked with church services, a special meal, gifts and Christmas trees. Some Eastern churches keep 25 December of the Julian calendar (7 January), and the Armenian Church marks the Nativity on 6 January. In Iran, security forces often answer converts' private Christmas gatherings with raids and arrests. In 2010, 25 Christians were arrested in the early hours of Christmas Day and about 70 over the season, most of them house-church leaders (Christian Solidarity Worldwide). In 2025, 254 Christians were arrested in Iran, nearly double the year before, and sentences totalling more than 280 years in prison were handed down; almost 90% of the charges fell under article 500 bis of the penal code, "propaganda contrary to the holy religion of Islam" (the Scapegoats report by Article 18, Open Doors, CSW and Middle East Concern). On 26 December 2014 plain-clothes security forces raided a private Christmas gathering at the Tehran home of Victor Bet-Tamraz, an Assyrian pastor, and took him and others to Evin prison; in July 2017 the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to 10 years, and in January 2018 his wife Shamiram Issavi to 10 (5 + 5). They fled Iran in 2020 after their appeal was rejected.