Tehran (AsiaNews) - New episodes of confessional persecution against Iran's Christian minority have emerged from the Islamic Republic: according to Article18, a website specialised in documenting abuses and limitations on religious freedom in Iran, three converts from Islam, including a woman pregnant with her first child, have been sentenced to over 40 years in prison on charges related to their religious beliefs and religious gatherings.
Furthermore, the court judges handed down the sentence on the expectant mother on 8 March, International Women's Day.
Abbas Soori, Mehran Shamloui and Narges Nasri (in the photo), who is about halfway through her pregnancy, ended up behind bars, sentenced without any extenuating circumstances by Judge Iman Afshari of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, also known as the Revolutionary Court.
The magistrate is famous for the harshness of his sentences and the many verdicts handed down against minorities and activists.
Narges, 37, received the most severe sentence of 10 years in prison for ‘propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law’, plus another five for belonging to an ‘opposition group’ (as House Churches are considered) and an additional year for ‘propaganda against the state’.
In this case, the basis of the sentence - and as ‘evidence’ of the crime - would be posts and messages published on social media in favour of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement founded in response to the killing of Mahsa Amini for not wearing the hijab, the Islamic veil, correctly.
Abbas, 48, received a total of 15 years in prison, 10 of which for ‘propaganda activities’ and five for belonging to an ‘opposition group’. Finally, Mehran, 37, received a sentence of eight years for the first charge and two years and eight months for the second.
All three were also deprived of their social rights such as healthcare, work or education for years: in particular, the judge imposed 15 years each for Narges and Abbas, and a total of 11 years for Mehran. In addition, Narges and Abbas were fined 330 million tomans ($3,500) each, and Mehran 250 million ($2,750).
The first two defendants were also banned from joining any group, residing in their home province of Tehran or leaving the Islamic Republic for a further two years after their release.
The three Christians were arrested in the autumn of 2024 during simultaneous raids by intelligence agents on their homes in Tehran, during which personal effects including Bibles, crosses and musical instruments were confiscated.
Mehran is a musician and the equipment that the intelligence men confiscated from him was worth about 5,500 dollars. The Christians were then transferred to Section 209 of Evin prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence.
A month later, following a series of long and intense interrogations, they were released on bail for a value of over 20 thousand dollars each. On 15 February, the hearing took place at Section 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran; the defendants were charged with ‘belonging to opposition groups’, ’ propaganda against the system’ and “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law through foreign relations”, respectively under Articles 499, 500 and 500 bis of the Penal Code.
At least 10 other Christians were arrested on the same day during coordinated raids on private homes and residences across the country, including in the cities of Karaj (near Tehran), Mashhad in the northeast, and Shiraz and Bandar Abbas in the south.
Abbas had already been arrested in 2020 and subsequently convicted along with another Christian convert, Maryam Mohammadi, and their pastor, an Iranian-Armenian, Anooshavan Avedian. Abbas and Maryam received non-custodial sentences, including a travel ban, exile from Tehran province and a ban on joining any political or social group, while 60-year-old Anooshavan was given a 10-year prison sentence.
Last September he was acquitted, after serving just over a year of his sentence.
The persecution of Christians is further confirmation of the fact that there has been a ‘clear regression’ in religious freedom in Iran, in line with the growing repression by the authorities linked to the protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police.
This fact also emerged in the reports of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which called for the reclassification of the Islamic Republic as a ‘country of particular concern (Cpc)’ due to its ‘systematic and egregious violations’.
Finally, also from Iran comes the news of the release of Somayeh Rajabi, who left Mati Kola prison on 8th March, the day the other three Christians were sentenced. Arrested on 6 February during a raid by plain-clothes Pasdaran at a prayer meeting in the province of Mazandaran, the woman was released after paying bail of over 40 thousand dollars. A substantial sum for a population - and a country - affected by a serious economic crisis.
The director of Article18, Mansour Borji, emphasises that ‘setting exorbitant bail amounts for Christians detained solely for exercising their legitimate right to religious freedom is a cruel and oppressive tactic. While millions of Iranians struggle with severe austerity, the government is exploiting their financial hardship to further punish and silence religious minorities.
