Update: Mina Khajavi released from Iran’s Evin Prison

Mina Khajavi has been released from Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, after being imprisoned for leading a house church.

We praise the Lord for the release of Iranian Christian convert, Mina Khajavi, on Monday 20 October after completing her reduced two-year sentence at Evin Prison.

Years without medical treatment

Mina (61) was sentenced for six years in 2022 for leading a house church. Before she was summoned to prison, Mina had an accident that hurt her ankle badly. She was run over by a car and was scheduled to undergo an operation when she was forced to submit herself to Evin prison in January 2024.

During her time in prison, Mina struggled with severe pain – exacerbated by having to climb to the second level of bunkbeds in her cell at night. Additionally – as shared in the original post (below) – Mina wasn’t given access to the proper medical care that she required.

Thank you for your prayers for Mina and the other Iranian believers imprisoned. We join her family and the Iranian church is praising God for her early release.

Please pray

• Praise God for the release of our sister and her reunion with family. May our Lord fill her with His joy and heal her every wound, both physically and emotionally
• Continue pleading for other Christian convert prisoners still serving sentences in Iran today to be released
• That Mina is able to get the treatment she needs for her medical condition, especially her injured ankle
• That the Iranian authorities will stop seeing normal Christian activities, such as meeting for prayer, as actions against national security that must be penalised.

9 May 2024

Christian arrested during wave of arrests in Iran last year granted bail, but others given long sentences

You might remember praying for Christians in Iran following a spate of arrests last summer and over the Christmas period. Whilst one believer has been granted bail, it’s understood that several others remain in prison, with some already having been sentenced to long imprisonments.

Esmaeil Narimanpour – who was among at least 46 believers arrested over the festive period – spent four months in custody before being granted bail last month. He was charged with ‘acting against national security’ when officials raided his home on Christmas Eve and confiscated literature, despite the absence of a warrant. He managed to contact his family on Christmas Day to update them on his whereabouts, but when they made further attempts to contact him, they themselves were detained and interrogated for several hours.

Believer struggles to reach prison cell bed

In a separate case, Mina Khajavi (60) – who is serving a six-year prison sentence in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison for leading a house church – is being denied adequate medical care for her arthritis. She walks with a limp and struggles to climb the bunkbed in her prison cell. The only treatment she is being given is the occasional painkiller. Prior to her imprisonment, she was prevented from getting surgery for her ankle, which she injured in a car accident.

Meanwhile, Shabeddin Shahi is waiting to face a second and final hearing after being charged with propaganda against the country’s Islamic regime. He was arrested in December 2023 along with Milad Goodarzi and brothers Alireza and Amir Nourmohammadi. He was notified of the charges on 11 March and given five days to appear at court, which he fulfilled.

Mixed news symptomatic of bigger picture

This mixed news from Iran – which is currently ninth on the World Watch List – is symptomatic of the unpredictable and brutal approach of the authorities towards Christians. Whilst some believers are granted bail and even released, others remain held, often for long stretches in awful conditions. Meanwhile, believers who continue to bravely express their faith do so at enormous risk of arrest.

Thank you for faithfully praying for our Iranian family. Please keep Mina, Shabeddin and Esmaeil, and all others either in prison or facing the prospect of it, in your prayers.

Sources: Article 18 and Middle East Concern