Christians in Iran imprisoned over Christmas season

Two Christians in Iran sentenced to prison for their faith were locked up on Dec. 16 and 20, and a Christian woman was summoned to begin serving her five-year prison term two days before Christmas, an advocacy group stated.

Nayereh Arjaneh, arrested along with her husband at their home in Garmsar on July 7, began serving her term in Semnan Prison on Dec. 23 after her conviction for “promoting deviant propaganda and teachings contrary to Islamic law” – that is, practicing and manifesting her faith, according to Iranian religious rights group Article 18.

“Nayereh has been sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison; however, under Iranian law, only the most severe sentence – five years of imprisonment in this case – is enforceable,” Article 18 said in a press statement.

Arjaneh was among a group of Christian converts arrested after attending a seminar in Turkey in 2025, the group noted. She was sentenced to five years of unconditional imprisonment, a fine of 165 million tomans ($1,500), two years of internal exile in Kouhbanan in Kerman Province, a 10-hour drive from her home, and a two-year travel ban, according to Article 18.

Arjaneh was also sentenced to an additional five years in prison and a fine of 60 million tomans ($500) under for allegedly “providing financial and material support to groups affiliated with Zionist Christianity.” The judge of Branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Garmsar who issued the verdicts, Farshid Safdari, acquitted her of a charge of “insulting religious sanctities.”

Her husband, Qasem Esmaili, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison, but it has not yet been enforced due to his ongoing chemotherapy for cancer, according to Article 18.

Arjaneh previously received a six-month suspended prison sentence in 2022 for her Christian activities.

Christian converts in Iran are not permitted to have a place to worship, build churches or establish Christian centers, so some travel to neighboring countries to attend church services and receive Christian religious teachings, the group noted.

Upon arrest, Arjaneh spent nearly 40 days in detention and was initially released on bail of 500 million tomans ($4,000). On Oct. 7, however, she was summoned for interrogation and detained for three days until bail increased to 2 billion tomans (more than $15,000) was paid.

“She was then temporarily released on bail for a second time,” Article 18 reported. “During her detention, Nayereh was subjected to psychological torture, including being threatened with execution.”

Brothers Imprisoned

In Isfahan’s Dastgerd Prison, two brothers arrested at a Christmas gathering four years ago have begun serving their four-year sentences; Mahmoud Mardani-Kharaji on Dec. 16, and Mansour Mardani-Kharaji on Dec. 20, Article 18 reported.

The Christian converts, both in their 50s, also face a two-year exile from their home province of Isfahan following their release and are banned from membership of any groups for five years. They were also fined the equivalent of about $1,500 each.

They were convicted under the amended Article 500, which criminalizes “deviant propaganda activities contrary to the holy religion of Islam.” Charges against two other Christians arrested along with them, unnamed for security reasons, were dropped.

Temporarily Released 

Another Christian convert, Aida Najaflou, was temporarily released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on Dec. 21 over concerns of risk of paralysis after fracturing her spine falling out of her prison bunk bed, Article 18 stated.

Pending the outcome of her appeal against her 17-year sentence, the 44-year-old Najaflou, was released after posting bail equivalent to more than $75,000, Article 18 noted, citing a post by her lawyer, Saeedeh Hosseinzadeh, in on X. She had raised serious concerns about Najaflou’s risk of spinal cord severance.

Najaflou, mother of two children, underwent surgery after the Oct. 31 injury but was not fully recovered when she returned to prison, and her condition deteriorated. In prison since her arrest in February, she was sentenced to a total of 17 years on charges related to her Christian activities, though she will only have to serve the longest of her three sentences, which is 10 years, according to Article 18.

Her case, along with those of four other – Iranian-Armenians Joseph and Lida Shahbazian and Christian converts Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh and another unnamed individual – was heard by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by notorious Judge Abolqasem Salavati, Article 18 noted. Among charges against them were “acting against national security” and “propaganda against the system.”

Their prison terms were issued based on their Christian beliefs and peaceful religious activities, including the establishment of house churches and holding prayer meetings and the celebration of Christmas, the group stated.

Iran ranked ninth on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL) of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The report noted that despite persecution, “the church in Iran is growing steadily.”