An Iranian Christian convert and former prisoner of conscience remains incommunicado two weeks after being rearrested on unknown charges.

Ghazal Marzban, who spent two months in Evin Prison last winter after being convicted of “propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans”, was rearrested by intelligence agents at home in Tehran on 14 January.

Ghazal’s Bible and other Christian literature were confiscated, before Ghazal was taken away to an unknown location, with no explanation given.

Two hours later, Ghazal called home to report being held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre, but since then has not been heard from.

Ghazal’s rearrest comes in the context of an ongoing Internet blackout and brutal crackdown on protests, with credible reports that tens of thousands have been murdered by the Islamic Republic’s security forces.

At least 11 Christians are among those known to have been killed so far, with new reports coming in every day and including members both of Iran’s recognised Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities and unrecognised converts.

Ghazal was first arrested in November 2024, after protesting against being harassed since converting to Catholicism seven years prior.

After converting, the Islamic law graduate was prevented from taking a bar examination and pressured to leave the country, while Ghazal’s spouse, a fellow convert, has been unable to access the medication required to manage Parkinson’s disease.