Rasoul Abdollahi, a Christian prisoner of conscience, has been granted conditional release from Ward 10 of Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj after 15 months’ detention.

Conditional release is granted to Christian prisoners who, after serving half their sentences, agree to refrain from attending any Christian meetings. If they are found to have broken the terms of their release, they will be returned to prison to serve the remainder of their sentences.

Rasoul was first arrested in the winter of 2010, along with a large number of Christians across Iran. He then was released on bail in March 2011, and eventually sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on charges of “gathering, colluding and promoting Christianity”. He began serving his sentence in December 2013.

Dozens of other Christians were arrested in December 2010, including Farshid Fathi, who was recently given an additional year in prison on top of his initial six-year sentence.

Rasoul began his sentence in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, alongside Farshid. However, on 8 October 2014, he and seven other prisoners of conscience, including Ebrahim Firouzi and Alireza Seyyedian, were transferred without notice to Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj.