All posts by Steve Dew-Jones.

A Christian woman prisoner who has been on temporary leave was insulted and strip-searched when she returned to Evin Prison.

Maryam (Nasim) Naghash Zargaran had been out of prison for four days – for the first time in 16 months of imprisonment. When she returned on 12 November, she was forced to take off all of her clothes by one of the female guards.

Nasim is said to have been extremely shaken as a result of the abuse. 

Previously, in September, Nasim was taken to Tehran’s Modarres Hospital due to a heart condition that has worsened during her time in prison.

Nasim, who is 36 years old, was first arrested in January 2013. She was summoned by the Iranian Security Police and held for three days. She was then taken to Evin Prison after preliminary interrogations, and her case was referred to the Islamic Revolutionary Court.

In March 2013, Nasim was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted in Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, of “gathering and collusion against the security of the state”. 

The ruling did not change in the appeal court, and Maryam was taken to Evin Prison to begin her sentence on 15 July 2013.

It should be noted that until now prison authorities have not provided any explanation as to why Nasim was subjected to such an untypical, and humiliating, examination.

Previously, in October 2012, about 20 women from the Evin Prison Guard unit stormed the women’s prison quarters and strip-searched the women, who were political prisoners or prisoners of conscience, while insulting them. Some of the prisoners went on hunger strike in response, and human rights organisations condemned the illegal actions against them.

Security agents arrested three members of the “Church of Iran” denomination in Bandar Anzali on Saturday, 5 July.

The three men were arrested at the home of Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, who is a member of the church in Bandar Anzali. The other two, Mohammad Roghangir and Soroush Saraei, belong to the Shiraz branch of the church. 

After their arrest, the three men were taken to an unknown location.

The arrests were carried out by a group of plainclothes agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, who confiscated a number of Abdolreza’s belongings, including his computer, mobile phone, pamphlets, books and Bible.

Abdolreza has been arrested several times for his “house church” activities. 

Meanwhile, both Mohammad and Soroush were among the eight converts arrested in October 2012 and later handed jail sentences of six years and two and a half years, respectively, by the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz. They have been on bail since March 2013.

Behnam Irani is another member of the Church of Iran denomination, who is serving a nearly six-year jail sentence in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. Last month he was transferred to an unknown location for two weeks, where he was subjected to continued interrogation and threats, in spite of his severe ill health. He was returned to prison on 7 June, after several days of continuous interrogation and pressure and threats.

Christian prisoner Vahid Hakani has resumed his hunger strike in Shiraz’s Adel Abad Prison.

He began his hunger strike on 20 March, after judicial authorities denied his request for early release, and to protest against poor conditions in prison.

That hunger strike last for more than seven weeks, until 23 May, despite Vahid suffering acute physical problems as a result. 

But he ended his hunger strike after one of his fellow prisoners of conscience, Mohammed Reza Partovi, was granted conditional release.

Vahid was transferred to the prison’s health centre in the last days of his first hunger strike, due to the deterioration of his physical condition. He was suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding, for which he had already once been hospitalised during his time in prison.

However, during his hunger strike Vahid was subjected to psychological harassment from prison guards, who denied him his right to make phone calls or to receive visits from his family members, and confiscated several of his personal belongings.

According to Mohabat News, Vahid was also separated from the three fellow Christians he was arrested and charged alongside: Mohammed Reza, Mojtaba Hosseini and Homayoun Shekoohi, who were each transferred to different wards. 

The four men were arrested on 8 February 2012 at a “house church” in Shiraz. Several others were initially detained but then released. However, on 10 June 2013, Vahid, Mohammed Reza, Homayoun and Mojtaba were each sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for “promoting Christianity”, “association with Christian organisations abroad”, “propaganda against the state”, and “disrupting national security”.

Six Christian converts have been arrested in Shiraz and taken to an unknown location.

The arrests took place on Friday, 20 June, at the house of a man known only by his surname, Fazli.

In addition to Mr Fazli and his wife, Farkhondeh, two other women – Mitra Sotoodeh and Parastoo Shahabi – were arrested, as well as a man known as Yousef, and another unidentified individual.

Armed plainclothes agents insulted the Christians and intimidated other residents of the building, stopping traffic at the entrance for hours while they conducted a search of Mr Fazli’s house, in Fars province. They also confiscated booklets, computers and satellite-television equipment, and destroyed the satellite dish on top of the building.

There is still no news about where the Christians were taken.

The pressure on Iranian Christian converts has increased rapidly during the past few years, following warnings from Iranian officials about the growth of “house churches”. In recent months, a number of Christians have been assaulted, harassed and arrested in various provinces.

In some cases, Persian-language churches have been shut down and Christians prevented from practising their faith.

Ahmed Shaheed, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, said in his detailed recent report that the repression and restriction of fundamental freedoms of Iranian citizens continues unabated, while the persecution of Christian converts is “extremely worrying”.

Christian prisoner Saeed Abedini, who has been receiving hospital treatment for two months, was beaten before he was taken back to prison, his wife says.

Saeed, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for “setting up house churches in order to disrupt national security”, was returned to Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj on Tuesday 20 May.

His wife, Nagmeh, says his mother was also beaten and left in a “bad condition”.

Nagmeh says her husband’s body was left bruised after he was stunned with a taser, and that he was also beaten, leaving him with internal bleeding.

Saeed, who lives in America, was arrested during a visit to his family home in early October 2012.

He was sentenced by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in February 2013. His appeal was rejected by Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals in Tehran.

One of four Christian converts detained in Shiraz’s Adel Abad Prison for over two years has been granted conditional release.

Mohammed Reza Partovi was serving a sentence of three years and eight months, alongside fellow converts Vahid Hakani, Mojtaba Hosseini and Homayoun Shekoohi.

The four were arrested in February 2012 and convicted in June 2013 of “promoting Christianity”, “association with Christian organisations abroad”, “propaganda against the state”, and “disrupting national security”. 

Following Mohammad Reza’s release on Tuesday, Vahid Hakani ended his hunger strike, which he had undertaken in protest against the authorities’ decision not to grant the Christians early release – now that they had served over half their sentences.

Vahid’s health had deteriorated significantly during his hunger strike, and he had been transferred to the prison health centre.

After their arrests in February 2012, it was over eight months before the Christians were given a court hearing – on 15 October 2012 – presided over by Judge Rashidi in Branch 3 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Shiraz. Their second hearing was held in the same branch on 28 December 2012.

Then in October 2013 their appeals were rejected. Meanwhile, the wife and son of one of the Christians, Homayoun Shekoohi, were also given two-year suspended jail sentences.

It is worth mentioning that the four men were forced to serve their sentences in the common criminal section of the prison, rather than in a special wing designed for political prisoners or other prisoners of conscience. 

The families of the Christians have made several pleas for their loved ones to be granted early release, but until now the Revolutionary Court judge had rejected their appeals.

After more than 36 days, imprisoned Christian convert Vahid Hakani’s hunger strike continues. 

Vahid is protesting against the verdicts issued by the judicial authorities against him and three fellow converts, Mojtaba Hosseini, Homayoun Shekoohi and Mohammad Reza Partovi. 

Article18’s Advocacy Director, Mansour Borji, expressed deep concern about his health, saying: “Before this, Vahid was transferred to the Faqihi Hospital in Shiraz due to a gastrointestinal problem and the deterioration of his physical condition. The continuation of this hunger strike may pose a serious threat to his health, and we are worried about this.”

Borji added that the sentences against the men – of three years and eight months each in prison – “lack legal validity because the judge issuing the sentence, without legal backing, found the participation of Christians in the church an offence against the Islamic system and for that reason as a forbidden act”.

The four men were first arrested at a “house church” meeting in Shiraz on 8 February 2012.

Then on 10 June, 2013, Judge Rashidi, head of the Third Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Shiraz, citing their formation of a house-church, sentenced them to three years and eight months in prison for “forming a group and propaganda meetings with the aim of promoting and spreading [Christianity],” under Articles 498, 499 and 500 of the Islamic Penal Code.

Officials at the Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, in response to Vahid’s hunger strike, initially transferred him to solitary confinement, and after his return to his cell prevented him from making telephone calls or receiving visitors.

Various reports have been published about the harsh conditions in Adel Abad Prison’s Band-e-Ebrat (Ward of Lessons), including the denial of medical care for prisoners of conscience like Vahid.

Seven Christians were arrested at a house church in southern Tehran on Good Friday.

The seven have been named as Nazi Irani, Maryam Asadi, Ali Arfa, Amin Mazloumi, and three Afghan nationals: Ehsan Sadeghi, Vahid Safi and Enayat Safi.

Agents from the Ministry of Intelligence arrested the Christians at a gathering at Maryam’s apartment.

The armed officers intimidated other residents in the building, and tore down all satellite-television receivers from the roof, before taking the seven Christians away in two white vans – to an unknown location.

Following frequent visits to the police station by family members of the arrested Christians, they were eventually told their loved ones had been taken by intelligence agents. They were also told to refrain from giving interviews to the media.

The families of Maryam and Amin eventually succeeded in speaking briefly with them over the phone.

After the warnings of the leaders of the Islamic Republic – especially Ayatollah Khamenei – about the growth of house-churches, there has been a rapid escalation in pressure on Christians, with hundreds of Christian converts in various cities of Iran attacked, harassed and detained by security officials.

In recent years, Persian-speaking churches have also been closed under pressure from the Ministry of Intelligence and some security-military institutions, and pressure on Christian centres has led to the growth of house-churches in the country, which increased the focus of pressure on such churches.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a 2010 speech, explicitly named the spread of house churches among the critical threats facing the regime.

“They [our enemies] … resorted to different things, ranging from promoting debauchery to propagating fake schools of mysticism – fake forms of genuine mysticism – the Baha’i Faith and the house-church network,” he said. “These are some of the things that the enemies of Islam are pursuing today through studying, planning and prediction … And the goal is to undermine religion in society.”

“House churches” mushroomed following the closure of several Persian-speaking churches, forcing Muslim converts to Christianity to take their faith “underground”.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, warned last month that fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of religion or belief, continue to be violated in Iran.

In his latest report, he expressed concern over the targeting of Christian converts, as well as Baha’is, Gonabadi dervishes and Sunni Muslims.

The European Parliament also recently criticised discrimination in Iran on grounds of ethnicity, gender and religion, and highlighted the situation of Bahai’s and Christian converts.

Christian prisoner Vahid Hakani has gone on hunger strike after his request for conditional release was rejected.

He is also protesting against poor conditions in Shiraz’s Adel Abad Prison.

Vahid has already been hospitalised once during his time in prison, as a result of gastrointestinal complications and the deterioration of his physical condition in the prison. 

Vahid is now in the second week of his hunger strike – he began on 20 March – and there are fears he will be exacerbating his illness.

Vahid, along with fellow converts Mojtaba Hosseini, Homayoun Shekoohi and Mohammad Reza Partovi, are among the Christian prisoners of conscience in Adel Abad.

On 10 June 2013, the four men were each sentenced to three years and eight months in prison at the Third Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Shiraz, on charges of “promoting Christianity”, “association with Christian organisations abroad”, “propaganda against the state”, and “disrupting national security”.

In recent weeks their families have made several pleas for their release, as they are now eligible for early release, having served over half of their sentences. However, the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz has rejected their requests.

Adel Abad has been called a place of “torture” for prisoners of conscience, who are held alongside regular criminal offenders, such as murderers and thieves.

In a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, on 2 March, it was noted that it has been a hard year for minorities. According to Mr Shaheed, as of 3 January, at least 307 members of religious minorities were in jail, among them 136 Baha’is, 19 Gonabadi dervishes, 50 Christians, 90 Sunnis and two Zoroastrians.