The mother of an Iranian-Armenian pastor who has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for over two months has passed away.

Joseph Shahbazian’s mother, who was 79 years old and for whose care Joseph had been primarily responsible, died yesterday at her home in Tehran.

The pastor, who previously spent over a year in prison on charges related to his leadership of a house-church, was re-arrested on 6 February for unknown reasons and remains in Evin Prison on extended pre-trial detention.

A bail was set for him last month and he has been transferred from Ward 209 of the prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence, to the general ward, but he has yet to be released or informed of any official charges.

The same is true of fellow Christian and former prisoner of conscience Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who was arrested on the same day as Joseph and suffered a stroke last month after undertaking a hunger strike to protest against the continued persecution of Christians in Iran.

Both Christians are in their 60s and Nasser has also been suffering with pain in his teeth, for which he has not been provided with any treatment.

Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, commented: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Joseph’s elderly mother, and call on the Iranian authorities to immediately release him to ensure he can be there for her funeral.

“Despite their continued claims that ‘no-one is imprisoned for their beliefs’ in Iran, the authorities continue to arrest and detain Christians like Joseph and Nasser for precisely that reason: their Christian faith and the peaceful outworking of that faith, including worshipping together with other Christians and sharing their faith with others, as is their right under the international covenants Iran has signed.”