Iran: Religious persecution and issues – Monthly Digest April 2025
Christians
‘Few countries on Earth less free on FoRB than Iran’ – UK envoy
Article 18 (25.04.2025) – The UK’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), David Smith, has said there are “few countries on Earth that seem less free when it comes to FoRB than Iran”.
Mr Smith was speaking at our third annual report presentation at the UK parliament, held in conjunction with partner organisations and report co-authors Open Doors, CSW, and Middle East Concern at Portcullis House on 23 April.
This year’s event also featured a contribution from the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Gina Romero, as well as witness testimony from Iranian Christian convert Saghar Mansouri.
Christian convert assaulted by prison officer ends hunger strike
Article 18 (22.04.2025) – An imprisoned Christian convert who went on hunger strike to protest against his mistreatment in Tehran’s Evin Prison has started eating again after receiving reassurances.
Amir-Ali Minaei, who has a heart condition and was recently assaulted by a prison officer, began his hunger strike on 12 April after being denied access to a telephone but concluded it two days later and has since been afforded limited use of a phone.
The 31-year-old has also received medical care after fracturing a bone in his right leg.
Christian convert denied urgent medical care in Evin Prison
Article 18 (17.04.2025) – Laleh Saati, a Christian convert and prisoner of conscience held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, has been denied access to specialised medical care and medical furlough despite suffering a physical injury.
Her condition, caused by a fall in the prison yard that left her two fingers on her left hand bent, has reportedly worsened amid continued obstruction of hospital referrals by security officials handling her case.
According to the Human Rights in Iran website, repeated appeals by Laleh’s mother for her transfer to a medical facility have been rejected by authorities.
Iranian-Armenian pastor denied leave for mother’s funeral as wife reportedly arrested
Article 18 (14.04.2025) – Iranian-Armenian Christian pastor Joseph Shahbazian, who has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison since February, was denied permission to attend his mother’s funeral today, despite the official conclusion of the investigation into his Christian activities.
Article18 sources confirmed that the funeral of Ms Jhasmen, Joseph’s 79-year-old mother who passed away last week, took place earlier today in Tehran.
Joseph, who was her primary caregiver prior to his arrest, was not granted temporary leave from prison to mourn or attend the burial.
Why Iranians are rejecting Islam and embracing christianity
Religion unplugged (14.04.2025) – Churches burned to the ground. Pastors executed in public squares. Families forced to renounce their faith or face the sword. Across the world, Christianity is under attack.
In Nicaragua, priests are arrested for speaking against the regime. Crosses are torn down, while Catholic-run charities are shut overnight. In China, underground churches are raided. Bibles are confiscated. Worshippers disappear into the prison system, never to be seen again. In India, Hindu nationalist mobs storm Christian villages, torching homes, beating pastors, forcing mass conversions at gunpoint.
US told to ‘demand accountability’ for religious freedom violations in Iran talks
Article 18 (11.04.2025) – The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has called on the US government to “demand accountability for Iran’s religious freedom violations” in tomorrow’s planned discussions between the two nations in Oman.
The independent, bipartisan group noted that Iran’s “egregious” religious-freedom violations had caused “hundreds” – including Christian converts – to flee the country, and called on the US government to ensure such religious refugees are not sent back to Iran.
“Ensuring that religiously persecuted Iranians are protected from the horrors awaiting them if refouled to Iran sends a clear signal that the US government prioritises freedom of religion or belief,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Meir Soloveichik.
Baha’is
Start of prison sentences for two Bahá’í women and the sentencing of another Bahá’í woman
Iran Press watch (20.04.2025) – Farideh Moradi and Golnoosh Nasiri, two Bahá’í citizens residing in Mashhad, presented themselves at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad on the morning of Saturday, April 19, 2025, to begin serving their sentences. After turning themselves in, they were taken into custody and transferred to prison.
Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, presided over by Judge Mansouri, had in October 2023 sentenced these two Bahá’í women to three years in prison on the charge of “membership in a group with the intent to disrupt national security,” and eight months for “propaganda against the regime.” This sentence was later overturned by the Supreme Court, and upon re-examination by the Court of Appeals, was reduced to eight months in prison.
Qaem Shahr: Maryam Zabihi, a Bahá’í citizen, sentenced to prison
Iran press watch (19.04.2025) – According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Maryam Zabihi has been sentenced to prison.
Based on a verdict issued by Branch 104 of the Criminal Court Two of Qaem Shahr, this Bahá’í citizen has been sentenced to 10 months in prison on the charge of “educational activities contrary to and disturbing to the sacred religion of Islam.” The hearing for Ms. Zabihi’s charges was held on April 16 of this year, and the verdict was issued on the same day.
Holding exam sessions for students of the unofficial Bahá’í university of Iran at her private residence was cited as the grounds for the charges against Ms. Zabihi.
European Union imposes sanctions on sections of Iran’s judiciary over human rights abuses—including the persecution of Bahá’ís
BIC (16.04.2025) – The Council of the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions and restrictive measures on a number of courts, judges and prisons in Iran in its decision 2025/774(link is external)
These sanctions spotlight the role of judicial authorities and penal institutions in the systematic persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran.
The decision—adopted on 14 April 2025 by the Council of the EU, the institution where the 27 Member States of the EU deliberate together—represents one of the strongest mechanisms for communicating such condemnation available to the EU.
European Parliament urges the unconditional release of Baha’i prisoner of conscience Mahvash Sabet
Iran Press Watch (08.04.2025) – During the European Parliament plenary debate on the resolution, Member of the European Parliament Helmut Brandstätter highlights Mahvash Sabet’s case.
Brussels—4 April 2025—The European Parliament has passed an urgency resolution on Iran, expressing its concern about the worsening human rights situation in the country. The resolution specifically calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Mahvash Sabet. This is the third urgency resolution of the European Parliament in five months condemning the escalating persecution of Baha’is in Iran, who have long faced systemic oppression. An urgency resolution is the mechanism used by the European Parliament to note and condemn pressing cases of human rights violations around the world.
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UN Human Rights Council extends mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and the UN Fact Finding Mission
Iran Press Watch (08.04.2025) – Yesterday, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning Iran’s ongoing human rights violations, including the persecution of the Bahá’ís, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority. The resolution extends the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and renews, for the third year in a row, Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on the Islamic Republic of Iran, whilst widening the mandate of the FFM to investigate all human rights violations and no longer only those related to the 2022 uprisings.
Adopted with 24 votes in favor, 8 against, and 15 abstentions, the resolution reflects the widening concerns of the international community for human rights in Iran. It underscores Iran’s ongoing failure to address grave concerns raised by UN experts and human rights organizations, reinforcing the need for sustained international pressure.