A Christian convert serving a two-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison is being denied access to the medical care she badly needs, according to a report from the Persian-language Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

The woman, a mother of around 50 years of age named Mahshar Parandin, reportedly has a heart condition and two tumours, but is being denied care.

According to the report, Mahshar is in need of immediate surgery, as one of the tumours, in her brain, has affected her balance, movement and speech. The second tumour, in Mahshar’s throat, is also reported to have grown visibly larger.

HRANA reports that Mahshar, an artist and painter, is also eligible for parole, but that the prosecutor has rejected her request for conditional release.

At least 50 Christians are currently imprisoned in Iran on charges related to their religious beliefs or activities. Mahshar’s case was previously unknown to Article18, showing once again that despite our best efforts to document the persecution that Christians experience in Iran, many cases go unreported – often because individuals or their families decide not to publicise their situation for fear that the publicity may worsen their plight.

Our 2024 annual report was titled “Faceless Victims” to draw attention to this  reality.

Denial of medical care to prisoners is one of the rights violations regularly referenced in the reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran.

In recent years, a number of other imprisoned Christians have been denied the medical care they needed, such as Aida Najaflou, who last year was sent back to prison after fracturing her spine, before she had received the necessary treatment. 

Other notable cases include Laleh Saati, Saheb Fadaie and Mina Khajavi, a 60-year-old who was forced to begin her prison sentence despite not having fully recovered from a broken ankle sustained when she was run over by a car, and was denied the opportunity to have the operation scheduled for her.