Three Christian converts began serving two-year prison sentences in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on 16 November on charges of “forming a group or association [a house church] with the aim of disrupting national security” and “membership of a group or association with the aim of disrupting national security”.

Afghan convert and refugee Teymur Hosseini (45), known as Kourosh, is a shoemaker who has lived in Iran for around twenty years and is married with three children. He was arrested on 11 December 2023, the same day as Zahra Gholami (35), known as Hannah, and Hossein Mohammadi (66), known as Daniel.

A fourth convert tried alongside Kourosh, Hannah and Daniel was sentenced to one year in prison on the charge of “aiding and abetting” others in their alleged crimes, but they have not been publicly identified and it is not known if they have answered their summons to prison.

Background

Hannah and Daniel were arrested following a raid by thirty intelligence agents on a house-church gathering in Shahriar on 11 December 2023 at about 7pm, when around 25 men, women and children had gathered to pray, worship and plan their Christmas celebration.

The agents read out the names of three of those present, two of whom – Hannah and Daniel – were taken into custody that night, while a man named Siroos Khosravi was detained three days later after answering a summons for further questioning. Hannah, Daniel and Siroos were driven to their homes, which were searched, before being taken to Evin Prison. Siroos, whose twin boys were awaiting kidney transplants, was released three weeks later and was not brought to trial.

Everyone else at the gathering was forced to fill in forms containing questions about their Christian faith and activities. Each was interrogated for around thirty minutes and their mobile phones were confiscated. In the following weeks, they were summoned for further interrogations.

Kourosh and the unidentified Christian were arrested separately on the same day as Hannah and Daniel following raids on their homes and workplaces in Karaj, and the Ministry of Intelligence later combined the two sets of arrests into one case.

Kourosh, Hannah and Daniel were detained until mid-February, with Hannah spending some time in the same cell as Mina Khajavi. They were released on bail equivalent to around €17,000 each and the unidentified Christian was released on a much lower bail equivalent to around €260.

The four Christians were tried on 2 July 2024 at Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Shahriar County, where they were sentenced under Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code, which relates to organisation of “anti-state” groups. Their appeals and application for a retrial by the Supreme Court were rejected.

(Article 18)

Photo of Kourosh: Mohabat News

Photos of Daniel and Hannah: Article 18