Several Iranian Christian converts face persecution at the hands of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence. Fariba Dalir, age 51, began her two-year prison sentence at Evin Prison on April 16. Rahmat Rostamipour, age 49, remains imprisoned after being interrogated and arrested at his home on April 18. Rostamipour’s wife Azar was originally to be arrested as well but was summed later due to a panic attack their teenage daughter suffered during the raid.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) agents arrested Dalir alongside five other converts in July 2021, including her fiancé Soroush. Guards held her in solitary confinement for 38 days and later released her on November 18, 2021 after posting bail of about $22,000 USD. Soroush and another convert were released in October after submitting bail of $11,000 USD. Fariba was sentenced to five years in prison, later reduced to two years, as the judge had assumed she had a criminal record. Fariba and Soroush were married in November. Now Fariba begins her sentencing for “acting against national security by establishing and leading an Evangelical Christian church.”
Rahmat’s home in Anzali was raided by a dozen plainclothesmen in the early morning. IRGC agents confiscated Bibles, phones, ID cards, books, and the children’s school tablets. Authorities intended to arrest his wife as well but allowed her to stay due to their daughter’s trauma. Azar was summoned on April 19 for hours of interrogation, during which she was informally accused of “propaganda against the regime through involvement in house-church activities”.
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