Two Christians from Tehran arrested almost two months ago are in Ward 209 of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, Article18 understands.

Ebrahim Firouzi and Sevada Aghasar were arrested on 21 August at a friend’s office in Karaj, then taken away to an unknown location.

There had been no news of their situation until now, when it emerges that after their arrest they were placed in solitary confinement and interrogated.

During their arrest, they were held in a Tehran traffic jam for three hours, while plainclothes officers waited for the authorities to supply them with an official order for their arrest.

Ebrahim is a Christian activist who has been arrested on several occasions for his Christian activities.

He was finally able to call his family on 9 October for a few minutes and also to meet with them briefly.

On 13 July, the 28-year-old convert to Christianity was sentenced to a year in prison and two years in exile in Sarbaz, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, “launching and guiding the deviant organisation of Christian evangelism”, “communication with anti-revolutionary elements in foreign countries and foreign anti-revolutionary channels”, and “launching a Christian site”.

His re-arrest came after he was summoned to report to Evin Prison to serve his sentence.

Sevada Agasar is an Armenian Christian from Tehran. Article18 understands he was able to contact his family a month after his arrest, on 26 September, and to meet with them briefly via a see-through screen.

The charges against him are not yet clear, though it appears his arrest was a result of his activities on Facebook and being in conversation with some Persian-speaking Christians.

Despite the election promises of Hassan Rouhani to improve the situation for religious minorities, the arrests of active Christians, closure of Persian-speaking churches, and issuance of unfair sentences, especially for Persian-speaking Christians, continue.

More than 42 Christians are currently in prison in Iran because of their religious activities.

Last month, four Christian converts lost their appeal against jail sentences of three years and eight months.

Mojtaba Hosseini, Homayoun Shekoohi, Vahid Hakani, and Mohammad Reza (Koroush) Partovi were arrested on 8 February 2012 and in June 2013 convicted of attending an illegal “house church”, propagating Christianity, spreading propaganda against the state, and disrupting national security. They are serving their sentences is Shiraz’s Adel Abad Prison.

Meanwhile, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, another Christian being held in Evin Prison, was transferred to Modarres Hospital in Tehran on 29 September after having a heart attack.