Advocates for religious freedom for Christians have said they are concerned for the wellbeing of Amir-Ali Minaei, a 31-year-old who was arrested in Iran for “propaganda activities against the regime through establishing a house-church”.
Minaei, a convert to Christianity, was arrested in December 2023 and interrogated. Although he was released on bail for the equivalent of £8,000, he was later sentenced to three years and seven months in prison.
Following, and indeed possibly because of, his arrest and interrogation, Minaei developed a heart condition. Minaei has pleaded with the authorities multiple times to refer him to a cardiologist.
Not only have such requests been denied, but on the last occasion, a prison officer allegedly beat Minaei, striking him directly on the chest.
Minaei applied for conditional release in January of this year, however his request was denied by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence.
Open Doors, which campaigns against the persecution of Christians, and its partner organisation, Article 18, have said they are seriously concerned about Minaei’s welfare, especially as Persian New Year is not far away, and it may become even harder to obtain the appropriate medical treatment.
Mansour Borji, from Article 18, said, “We are outraged by the denial of medical treatment to Amir-Ali and especially by his recent beating. With the Persian New Year about to start, we are increasingly concerned about his health and wellbeing. He is a young man whose only ‘offence’ was to meet with his fellow Christians."
Borji added a demand for Minaei to be released and called upon the Iranian government to cease its persecution of house churches, which are of special significance as “the only places of worship available to Iranian Christians who wish to worship together in their mother tongue, as the churches of Iran’s Armenian and Assyrian minorities are off-limits to Persian-speakers”.
