Anooshavan Avedian

Iranian-Armenian pastor Anooshavan Avedian began his 10-year prison sentence on 18 September 2023, having been ordered to hand himself in five days earlier by plainclothes officers from the Ministry of Intelligence.

That visit took place on 13 September 2023, the very same day that another Iranian-Armenian pastor, Joseph Shahbazian, was released from Evin Prison.

Anooshavan was first arrested in 2020 during a raid on his home, and was eventually charged and sentenced alongside two Christian converts, Abbas Soori and Maryam Mohammadi, who were handed non-custodial sentences.

In addition to Anooshavan’s 10-year prison term - for “propaganda contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam” - he also faces 10 years’ “deprivation of social rights” after his release.

All three Christians applied for a retrial with the Supreme Court, but their applications were rejected in June 2022, and Anooshavan had been awaiting his summons to prison ever since.

Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, noted that: “While people appreciate enjoying as much time as possible with their family and loved ones, the constant threat of imprisonment hovering over your head is in itself a kind of torture.”

He added that the timing of Anooshavan’s summons - on the same day Joseph was released - showed that “the general policy of the Iranian government towards Christians has not changed”.

“Although we have seen a number of Christians released this year,” he said, “the fact that somebody has now gone to prison on the same charges or for the same activities for which others have been pardoned or released, or had their sentences reduced, shows the arbitrary nature of the judicial system in Iran.”

Sasan Khosravi

Sasan, a Christian convert, is now serving a two-year term of exile from his city of Bushehr, having already served a one-year prison sentence for being part of a house-church.

Sasan was one of eight Christians arrested in July 2019, including his wife Marjan, mother Khatoon, brother Sam, and sister-in-law Maryam.

In June 2020, seven of the Christians - all except Khatoon - received a range of sentences from prison and exile to fines and work restrictions.

Sasan and Sam were sentenced to one year in prison, followed by a two-year exile from Bushehr, which included a ban on working in their specialist profession – the hospitality sector.

In January 2021, their appeals were rejected, and Sasan began serving his sentence on 9 February 2021.

A month later, he was released on furlough for 10 days, which was then extended. However, Sasan was later told he must return to prison to complete his sentence, and did so on 11 November 2021.

Sasan was released from prison on 20 January 2022, but is now in exile.

Mehdi Akbari

Mehdi (Yasser) Akbari was arrested alongside three fellow Christian converts during coordinated raids on their homes by intelligence agents in January 2019 in Tehran.

They were then all transferred to Evin Prison, where they were placed in solitary confinement and interrogated for 30 days, before being released on bail of 800 million tomans ($62,500 at the time) on 18 March 2019.

They were tried on 16 June 2020 at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of “acting against national security” and “forming an illegal evangelical Christian group”.

Four months later they were sentenced at the same branch, when Yasser received a 10-year sentence, and the others between five and 10 years.

The judge, Mohammad Moghiseh, spoke obscenely to the Christians and would not listen to their defence, only citing the report of the intelligence agent.

He then increased their bail to 7 billion tomans ($220,000).

The two women were later freed on bail, but the men were transferred to Evin Prison and their sentences were communicated to them there on 17 October 2020.

In December 2021, Yasser's only son, Amir Ali, who had underlying health issues, passed away in the care facility where he had been living since his father’s imprisonment.

Yasser was given five days’ leave from prison, but only after his son’s funeral had already taken place.

He has said he carries the grief of his son's passing within him "like a suppressed cry".

Abdolreza Ali (Matthias) Haghnejad

Matthias and eight other Christian converts from the northern city of Rasht were arrested in January and February 2019.

In July 2019, Matthias and four others had their bail increased tenfold - to the equivalent of $130,000 each - after insisting upon being defended by their own lawyer. Being unable and unprepared to pay such an amount, they were transferred to Ward 4 of Tehran’s Evin Prison.

The other four decided to defend themselves and were therefore released on their pre-existing bail (the equivalent of $13,000 each) until their next hearing, when the judge accused them of promoting Zionism and said the Bible had been falsified.

In October 2019, all nine men were sentenced to five years in prison for “acting against national security”. Their appeals were rejected following a hearing in February 2020.

In November 2021, the Supreme Court ordered a review of their case, ruling that: “Merely preaching Christianity, and promoting the ‘Evangelical Zionist sect’, both of which apparently means propagating Christianity through family gatherings [house-churches] is not a manifestation of gathering and collusion to disrupt the security of the country, whether internally or externally.”

The Christians were released a month later, pending the result of the review, and on 28 February 2022 they were all acquitted. However, on 15 January 2022 Matthias had been sent back to prison to serve a previous six-year sentence - of which he had been acquitted seven years previously - following the intervention of a different Supreme Court judge.

In July 2023, Matthias was transferred, without warning or the chance to say farewell to his wife and daughter, to a prison on the other side of the country, 1,000 miles from home. He remains there, in Minab Prison.

Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh

Ayoob and his two friends Morteza Mashoodkari and Ahmad Sarparast were first arrested during raids on a house-church and another private home on 5 September 2021 in Rasht, northern Iran.

On 25 January 2022, the three men were charged under the amended Article 500 of the penal code with “engaging in propaganda and educational activities for deviant beliefs contrary to the holy Sharia”.

They denied the charges, saying they were “just Christians worshipping according to the Bible” and "did not engage in any propaganda against the regime or any action against national security".

But on 9 April 2022, Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht sentenced them to five years in prison. They were also fined 18 million tomans (around $750).

While awaiting for the outcome of their appeal, the three men were arrested again in May 2022.

Their appeals were eventually rejected in June 2022, and in July they were told they must return to court to face a second trial on identical charges.

On 2 November 2022, a Rasht Revolutionary Court cleared them of wrongdoing in this second trial. Then on 9 November 2022, Morteza was informed that he had been granted a "partial pardon" in the first case, and that his sentence had been reduced to two and a half years. However, there was no such pardon for Ahmad and Ayoob.

In May 2023, Morteza was permitted serve the remainder of his sentence outside prison, but told he must still report back daily to work at an adjacent factory. In October 2023, Ahmad and Ayoob were granted access to the same scheme.

Ahmad Sarparast

Ahmad and his two friends Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh and Morteza Mashoodkari were first arrested during raids on a house-church and another private home on 5 September 2021 in Rasht, northern Iran.

On 25 January 2022, the three men were charged under the amended Article 500 of the penal code with “engaging in propaganda and educational activities for deviant beliefs contrary to the holy Sharia”.

They denied the charges, saying they were “just Christians worshipping according to the Bible” and "did not engage in any propaganda against the regime or any action against national security".

But on 9 April 2022, Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht sentenced them to five years in prison. They were also fined 18 million tomans (around $750).

While awaiting for the outcome of their appeal, the three men were arrested again in May 2022.

Their appeals were eventually rejected in June 2022, and in July they were told they must return to court to face a second trial on identical charges.

On 2 November 2022, a Rasht Revolutionary Court cleared them of wrongdoing in this second trial. Then on 9 November 2022, Morteza was informed that he had been granted a "partial pardon" in the first case, and that his sentence had been reduced to two and a half years. However, there was no such pardon for Ahmad and Ayoob.

In May 2023, Morteza was permitted serve the remainder of his sentence outside prison, but told he must still report back daily to work at an adjacent factory. In October 2023, Ahmad and Ayoob were granted access to the same scheme.

Morteza Mashoodkari

Morteza and his two friends Ayoob Poor-Rezazadeh and Ahmad Sarparast were first arrested during raids on a house-church and another private home on 5 September 2021 in Rasht, northern Iran.

On 25 January 2022, the three men were charged under the amended Article 500 of the penal code with “engaging in propaganda and educational activities for deviant beliefs contrary to the holy Sharia”.

They denied the charges, saying they were “just Christians worshipping according to the Bible” and "did not engage in any propaganda against the regime or any action against national security".

But on 9 April 2022, Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht sentenced them to five years in prison. They were also fined 18 million tomans (around $750).

While awaiting for the outcome of their appeal, the three men were arrested again in May 2022.

Their appeals were eventually rejected in June 2022, and in July they were told they must return to court to face a second trial on identical charges.

On 2 November 2022, a Rasht Revolutionary Court cleared them of wrongdoing in this second trial. Then on 9 November 2022, Morteza was informed that he had been granted a "partial pardon" in the first case, and that his sentence had been reduced to two and a half years. However, there was no such pardon for Ahmad and Ayoob.

In May 2023, Morteza was permitted serve the remainder of his sentence outside prison, but told he must still report back daily to work at an adjacent factory. In October 2023, Ahmad and Ayoob were granted access to the same scheme.