There are growing concerns over the health of an imprisoned Christian convert, who has a heart condition and was recently beaten for requesting a referral to a cardiologist.

Amir-Ali Minaei, a 31-year-old from Tehran whose case has not been reported until now but whose first name was included in the prisoners list of our latest annual report, has been in Evin Prison since April last year.

He is serving a sentence of three years and seven months for “propaganda activities against the regime through establishing a house-church”, handed down in March last year by notorious Revolutionary Court judge Iman Afshari.

Judge Afshari also sentenced Amir-Ali to deprivation of social rights – such as membership of any organisation – following his imprisonment.

Amir-Ali was first arrested in December 2023 and detained for over two months in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence. 

He was then released on bail equivalent to around $10,000, following a series of intensive interrogations.

Amir-Ali’s heart condition was diagnosed between his release on bail and his sentencing, and is understood to have been caused directly by the stress he was placed under during his initial detention and the threat of further imprisonment. 

Nevertheless, every request that he has made to be referred to a cardiologist during his imprisonment has been rejected, and after his most recent request, earlier this month, Amir-Ali was beaten by a prison officer, who struck him directly in the chest, thereby worsening his condition.

Article18 has been able to verify the identity of the prison guard, whose name is Mehdi Salimi.

Despite the beating, Amir-Ali has still not been referred to a cardiologist, and there are fears his condition may further deteriorate in the next few weeks, as the Persian New Year season begins and regular treatment options become even harder to access.

Amir-Ali applied for conditional release in January, but his request was blocked by Ministry of Intelligence agents due to his perceived lack of “cooperation” with them.

Article18’s Mansour Borji explained: “Detainees are often compelled to accept extrajudicial conditions as a prerequisite for receiving benefits such as temporary furlough, pardon, or early release. Authorities and interrogators seek to leverage these individuals as informants, or ‘collaborators’, requiring them to resume their daily lives while covertly gathering intelligence on other Christians and their activities. This practice constitutes a form of coercion, further infringing upon the detainees’ rights and subjecting them to ongoing surveillance and undue pressure.”

He added: “With the Persian New Year about to start, we are increasingly concerned about the health and wellbeing of Amir-Ali, a young man whose only ‘offence’ was to meet together with his fellow believers. We call for his immediate and unconditional release and for the Iranian authorities to stop targeting house-churches and instead recognise them for what they are: the only places of worship available to Iranian Christians who wish to worship together in their mother tongue, as the churches of Iran’s Armenian and Assyrian minorities are off-limits to Persian-speakers.

“We are also outraged by the denial of medical treatment to Amir-Ali and especially by his recent beating, and call on the Iranian authorities to ensure that the officer responsible, Mehdi Salimi, receives the proper punishment for his crimes.”