Lida Alexani (56), wife of imprisoned house church leader Joseph Shahbazian, has been in solitary confinement in Evin Prison since her arrest by Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) officers on 12 April.

Lida was arrested during a raid on her home in Tehran during which officers carried out a search and confiscated personal items. They then transferred Lida to prison, but the charges against her have not been made public.

Lida’s arrest came two days before the funeral of her mother-in-law Jhasmen, who died on 9 April. Joseph had been his mother’s primary carer before his imprisonment but neither he nor Lida was able to attend her funeral.

Joseph was first arrested in 2020 and served over a year of a ten-year sentence for holding church services in his home before his sentence was reduced to two years at a retrial. He was released in September 2023 after receiving a pardon, but was re-arrested in February 2025. He is currently in Ward 4 of Evin Prison, the general ward, having spent nearly two months in solitary confinement in Ward 209, which is controlled by the MOIS.

Joseph reportedly faces charges including “propaganda against the regime”, “propaganda activities contrary to the holy religion of Islam through the establishment and operation of a house-church” and “acquiring wealth through the illegitimate means of tithes and donations”. He remains imprisoned despite bail being set (at 499 million tomans, around €6,000).

Article18’s sources report that in recent weeks MOIS officers have called several of Joseph’s Christian friends in an attempt to gather new evidence against him. One of them told Article18 on condition of anonymity, “They tried to force us to cooperate with the MOIS by luring us and even threatening us. They wanted me to say something untrue against Brother Joseph, so they could build a case against him. The interrogator said, ‘If you don’t help us, we’ll have to resume our unfinished investigation against you!’”

(Article 18)

Photo credit: Article 18