Iran’s revolutionary court sentenced a pregnant Christian woman to 16 years in prison on Saturday (March 8) and handed harsh punishments to two other converts from Islam, rights groups reported.
Revolutionary Court Judge Iman Afshari has been sentenced to Narges Nassri, a 37-year-old Christian, pregnant with her first child on International Women’s Day, for 10 years in “propaganda activities that are opposite to Islamist law,” in addition to her five-year prison sentence for membership in the House Church (the “opposition group”).
Steve Dew Jones’ second charge in Article 18 told Christian Daily International, “probably a reference to the revised 500 terminology, which imposes a severe sentence when evidence is found (or alleged) of foreign funds or organizational involvement.”
Section 500 has long been used to indict Christian converts, but the amendment loosened the condition that the accused could increase the maximum penalty from one to five years if “financial or organized assistance” was received from overseas.
According to Article 18, Nasri was sentenced to “propaganda against the state” in a prison for “propaganda against the state.”
The court declared Christian Suri to convert to 15 years old prison at 48. He declared 10 years for “propaganda activities” and 5 years for membership in the House Church (the “opposition groups”). Another Christian convert, Mehran Shamloui, 37, was sentenced to eight years in prison on the first charge, receiving two years and eight months.
“All three were declared deprived of their long-standing social rights, including health, employment and education. They reported 15 years, respectively, Narju and Abbas to 2011, Narju and Abbas to 330 million ($3,500) and Meharan to 250 million ($2,750) each. “Narju and Abbas were also banned from membership in groups who either live in their hometown of Tehran, or who left Iran for two years after their release.”
Authorities arrested three Christians in a simultaneous attack at their home in Tehran on November 3, and the Intelligence Agency confiscated personal belongings, including the Bible, cross and musical instruments. Musician Mehran lost about US$5,500 worth of equipment in the attack, the group reported.
Christians were then transferred to the 209th district of Iran’s infamous Evin Prison, under the control of the Intelligence Ministry. A month later, they were released on bail worth more than $20,000 following a series of long and intensive interrogations, Article 18 reported.
Their court hearing took place at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on February 15th and was charged with “membership of opposition groups”, “propaganda against the system” and “propaganda activities that violate Islamic law through diplomacy” at No. 499, 500 and 500 BIS, respectively.
He also reported that at least 10 other Christians were detained during coordinated raids at Christian homes around the country, including Karaj (near Tehran), Mashhad in the northeast, and Shiraz and Bandar Abbas in the south.
Soori was previously arrested in 2020 and later declared along with another Christian convert, Maryam Mohammadi and pastor Iran-Anushavan Aveveen. Soori and Mohammadi were subjected to unlawful punishments, including travel bans, asylum from Tehran and bans from membership in any political or social groups, the group said.
Pastor Avevean, who is in the 1960s, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but according to Article 18, he was acquitted in September after serving more than a year for his sentence.
The lawsuit of 327 Christians who were charged with crimes related to their faith last year showed how the Islamist regime politicized religious activities, Article 18 recently pointed out. In one case, an elderly Christian lawyer sentenced to five years in prison, described mere attendance at Christian worship as a “Zionist,” and told the court that threats to national security were attempting to inflate the charges to justify illegal convictions and unbalanced sentences.
At a 2022 trial, the Iranian-Armenian Christian, nearly 80 years old from Rasht, was indicted for “community membership under the name of the “Zionist Evangelical Christian Home Church” with the aim of destroying the security of the country.” “Meetings and conspiracy for the security of the nation.” “It disrupts the public and disrupts the social order through Christian publications with the aim of attracting Muslims.” According to Article 18 of the advocacy group, “shaming the sacred Islamic thing.”
As the Iranian regime is based on religious principles, the influence of the state’s religion was seen by prosecutors citing the supreme leader Ali Kameini.
Similarly, prosecutors cited Iran’s supreme leader, Rukhora Musavi Khomeini, from his death in 1979 until 1989.
Armenian and Assyrian Christians, where orthodox and Catholic faiths are legal in Iran, are “aligned with the Islamic Revolution,” the prosecutor said, but “Armenians and Assyrian Christians in Protestant religion are seen as security threats to the Islamic Revolution, along with their evangelical nature and mission to Christianize Iran.”
Iran ranked 9th in the Open Doors ‘2025 World Watch List (WWL), a Christian support organization in 50 countries where becoming a Christian is the most difficult. The report said despite the persecution, “Iranian churches are growing steadily.”
