As the Obama Administration ramps up negotiations with Iran to ease international sanctions in return for permanent reductions in their nuclear program, the United Nations has released a report showing that Iran’s persecution of Christians is worse than at any level in the country’s history.

UN investigators found that Iran continues to imprison Christians strictly because of their faith and has designated house churches and evangelical Christians as “threats to national security.”  At least 49 Christians were found by the investigators to be held in Iranian jails only because of their Christian faith.

“These are indicators that President Rouhani has no influence over hard-liners, who remain fully in charge of the judiciary and security apparatus, government entities that are responsible for the most severe abuses against religious minorities,” Dwight Bashir, Deputy Director for Policy at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom told Fox News.

“The situation of Christians and other religious minorities in Iran is very dire because the Iranian regime is a Sharia state.  This dictatorship oppresses viciously all these precious groups with the abhorrent justification of Islamic law and by that it violates Iran’s constitution  and a long-lasting tradition within Persian culture of peaceful tolerance and respect towards fellow Iranians with diverse religious backgrounds,” Saba Farzan of the Institute for Middle Eastern Democracy added.

Christians arrested for their faith have been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.