Iranian-Armenian Christian pastor Joseph Shahbazian, who has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison since February, was denied permission to attend his mother’s funeral today, despite the official conclusion of the investigation into his Christian activities.

Article18 sources confirmed that the funeral of Ms. Jhasmen, Joseph’s 79-year-old mother who passed away last week, took place earlier today in Tehran. Joseph, who was her primary caregiver prior to his arrest, was not granted temporary leave from prison to mourn or attend the burial.

Notably absent from the funeral was Joseph’s wife, Lida Shahbazian. Unconfirmed reports indicate that she was arrested on Saturday, April 12, following a fresh raid on the couple’s home by agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS).

Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, commented: “Lida’s re-arrest — the same day that Iran and the United States (US) resumed negotiations in Oman — has drawn renewed attention to the Iranian government’s crackdown on religious minorities. While the Iranian authorities seek the lifting of sanctions through nuclear-focused negotiations, they appear determined to suppress any parallel discussions on human rights.”

“This pattern is all too familiar,” he added. “Iran wants to make sure that its domestic repression — particularly against Christians and other religious minorities — is kept off the negotiating table.”

Although Joseph was moved last month from Ward 209 — controlled by the MOIS — to the general ward of Evin Prison and bail has been set, he remains imprisoned without charge or trial.

Joseph had previously spent over a year in prison for his alleged leading of a house-church before being released in 2023. His current detention, along with the reported targeting of his wife, has deepened concerns about the Iranian regime’s intensified campaign against Persian-speaking Christians.

His case mirrors that of fellow Christian and former prisoner of conscience Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, who was arrested on the same day. Nasser recently suffered a stroke in detention following a hunger strike to protest his treatment and the broader persecution of Christians in Iran. He continues to be denied medical care for both his stroke recovery, and for ongoing dental issues.

Both men, now in their 60s, remain in legal limbo — emblematic of the broader repression that continues unabated, even as Tehran courts the international community for economic relief.

Dr Khataza Gondwe, Advocacy Director at CSW, a Christian human rights organisation specialising in freedom of religion or belief, and a member of the Article 18 Alliance Council of Experts, called for “the immediate and unconditional release” of Joseph, Lida, Nasser “and all other religious minorities detained and charged for peaceably exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief as articulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a binding treaty that Iran signed and ratified without reservations. 

“Additionally, as talks in Oman continue, we urge the US administration – and the rest of the  international community –  to also press Iran to uphold its human rights commitments under international human rights legislation, and to ensure that freedom, justice and equality before the law are guaranteed to every citizen, regardless of their religion or belief.”