Iran’s Supreme Court has rejected the application for retrial of Christian convert Mehran Shamloui (37), who is serving a ten-year prison sentence for house-church activities.

Mehran has been in prison for two months, having been detained on his return to Iran on 3 July after he was deported from Turkey, where he fled following his sentencing in March. He was brought from Mashhad Airport to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, where many male prisoners were moved following the Israeli missile strike on Evin Prison in June, and was transferred to Evin Prison in August when the prison was partially reopened.

Other prisoners transferred back from the Greater Tehran Penitentiary when Evin reopened include several Christians (Joseph Shahbazian, Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh and Hakop Gochumyan), although another Christian prisoner, Amir-Ali Minaei, is unaccounted for.

Women prisoners transferred from Evin following the missile strike remain in Qarchak Prison, where conditions are reportedly dire. They include Christian converts Mina Khajavi and Aida Najaflou.

Background

Mehran fled to Turkey after he and two other Christian converts, Abbas Soori and Narges Nasri (pictured), were given long sentences in March 2025 for “membership of opposition groups” (house churches), “propaganda against the system” and “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law through foreign relations”.

They had been arrested in November 2024 when intelligence agents raided their homes in Tehran and were held in Evin Prison for a month of intensive interrogations before being released on bail. Following a court hearing in February 2025, their sentencing was pronounced on 8 March by notorious Revolutionary Court judge Iman Afshari.

Their appeals were rejected on 23 April “in view of the scope of their activities, and their harmful effects”, by which time they had already fled the country.

Mehran decided not to apply for refugee status in Turkey because he had seen many Iranian Christians spend years awaiting resettlement only for their applications to be rejected. He attempted to cross the border into Europe but was caught, detained and deported.

Sentences

Mehran was sentenced to eight years for “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law” and two years and eight months for “membership of an opposition group”.

Narges (38) received the longest sentence of the three Christians, 16 years in prison: ten years for “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law”, five years for “membership of an opposition group” and one year for “propaganda against the state” (for having posted on social media in support of the Women, Life, Freedom movement).

Abbas (48) was sentenced to 15 years in prison: ten years for “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law” and five years for “membership of an opposition group”.

All three were also fined and sentenced to deprivation of social rights, such as access to healthcare, employment or education, for 15 years (Narges and Abbas) and eleven years (Mehran). Narges and Abbas were also sentenced to two-year post-release bans on membership of any group, residing in their home province of Tehran or leaving Iran.

(Article 18)

Photos: Article 18