At least two Iranian Christian converts have submitted themselves to begin prison sentences on “national security” charges related to their involvement in a house-church.

Hossein Mohammadi, who is known as Daniel, and Zahra Gholami, known as Hannah, reported to their local sentence enforcement office in Malard, near Tehran, on Sunday, 16 November, after being summoned to begin their sentences.

It is not yet known where they will serve their sentences, but they were detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison following their initial arrests in December 2023, so it is presumed that they will have been transferred there.

Daniel, who will turn 66 next week, and Hannah, 35, were sentenced in July last year, alongside two other Christian converts – only one of whom has been identified: Afghan refugee Teymur Hosseini, 45, who is known as Kourosh.

Article18’s director, Mansour Borji, expressed particular concern about Kourosh’s fate following the December 2023 arrests, given his vulnerable position in society.

Daniel, Hannah and Kourosh were each sentenced to two years in prison on charges of “forming” and “membership” of a “group or association with the aim of disrupting national security”.

The fourth Christian, whose name has not been made public, received a one-year sentence on the charge of “aiding and abetting” others in the aforementioned alleged crimes.

It is not yet known whether Kourosh and the fourth Christian have answered their own summonses to prison.

Background

The arrests followed a raid by 30 intelligence agents on a house-church gathering in Shahriar on 11 December 2023, at around 7pm, when around 25 men, women and children had gathered to pray and worship together and to plan their Christmas celebration.

The agents read out the names of three of the individuals present, two of whom – Daniel and Hannah – were taken into custody that night, while the third, a man named Siroos Khosravi, was detained three days later after answering a summons for further questioning.

Before being taken to Evin Prison, Daniel, Hannah and Siroos were each driven to their homes, which were searched. All the others present at the gathering were forced to fill out forms containing questions regarding their Christian faith and activities; their mobile phones were confiscated; and they were interrogated individually for around 30 minutes each. In the following weeks, they were summoned for further interrogations.

Kourosh and the unidentified Christian were arrested separately the same day following raids on their homes and workplaces in Karaj, and the two sets of arrests were later combined into one case by the Ministry of Intelligence.

Siroos, whose twin boys were awaiting kidney transplantations, was released three weeks later and not brought to trial. But Daniel, Kourosh and Hannah, who spent some time in the same cell as fellow Christian prisoner of conscience Mina Khajavi, were detained until mid-February, before being released on bail equivalent to $20,000 each. The unidentified Christian was released on a much lower bail amount, equivalent to around $300.

The four Christians were tried on 2 July 2024 at Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar County, where they were sentenced under Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code, related to organisation of “anti-state” groups.

The Christians’ appeals and application for a retrial with the Supreme Court were both rejected.