Four Christian converts whose property was confiscated from them by the intelligence agents who raided their homes more than six months ago have finally had it returned to them.

Esmaeil Narimanpour, Alireza Varak-Shah, Mohammad Ali (Davoud) Torabi, and Mohammad Kayidgap were arrested in April, then charged in August with “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” – as a result of their membership of a house-church.

But though they appealed to have their confiscated property returned to them – including items essential for their children’s schoolwork, such as laptops and mobile phones – the intelligence service in their home city of Dezful had until now refused to hand it back, in spite of several direct orders from the local prosecutor’s office to do so.

But in the past few days, their belongings have finally been returned to them, after their lawyer, Iman Soleimani, followed up the matter with the intelligence service in the capital, Tehran.

The four Christians are now awaiting trial, alongside four others – Hojjat Lotfi Khalaf, Alireza Roshanaei Zadeh, Masoud Nabi, and Mohsen Saadati Zadeh – who are also expected soon to be summoned to face the same charges, which fall under the recently amended Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, under which several other Christians have already been sentenced or threatened.