One of five Christian converts sentenced to a combined total of over 40 years in Tehran’s Evin Prison on charges related to their religious activities has begun serving his sentence of nine and a half years.

Morteza Faghanpour-Saasi, 38, who is from the city of Varamin, south of Tehran, was one of seven Christian converts arrested in June 2024 in Varamin and the nearby city of Pishva, five of whom were brought to trial a year later at a Varamin Revolutionary Court.

The Christians were each sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for “propaganda activity contrary to Islamic law due to overseas connections” and seven months for “propaganda against the system”.

Morteza was given an additional 17-month prison sentence for allegedly insulting Iran’s Supreme Leader on social media. 

Morteza was arrested on 12 June 2024 at his workplace, after which security forces raided his home, confiscating Bibles, evangelistic booklets, his mobile phone and Christian images displayed on his walls.

During his six months in pre-trial detention, Morteza spent 20 days in Ward 209 of Evin Prison — operated by the Ministry of Intelligence — where he was reportedly tortured. He was then held for another month in Ward 240, before being transferred to Ward 8 for four months after being unable to post bail.

The names of two of the converts have not been reported, but two of the other Christians sentenced to eight years and one month in prison were Hessamuddin Mohammad Junaidi and Abolfazl Ahmadzadeh-Khajani, Reports indicate that some of the converts were pressured to renounce their faith in exchange for reduced sentences.

Judge Ashkan Ramesh of the Varamin Revolutionary Court convicted Morteza under Articles 500, 500 bis, and 514 of the Islamic Penal Code — provisions frequently used to criminalise peaceful religious activity and dissent.

The United Nations and multiple human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned Article 500 bis and related statutes for being used to target religious minorities, particularly Christian converts, and called on Iran to repeal or reform such vague and discriminatory laws, which equate peaceful religious practice with national security offences.