Mina Khajavi, a 61-year-old Christian convert, was released from Iran’s Evin Prison on Oct. 20 after serving nearly two years in jail for activities related to her Christian faith. 

Khajavi, along with several other Christians, was arrested on June 30, 2020, while attending a house-church service and charged with “acting against national security through promoting Zionist Christianity.” She was detained for three weeks before being released on bail. 

In 2022, an Iranian court sentenced Khajavi to six years in prison, a sentence that was later reduced to two years, and she began serving her sentence in January 2024 in Evin Prison. The court considered the initial detainment after her arrest as part of Khajavi’s time served. 

Authorities arrested Khajavi during one of several raids conducted on Christian house churches in Iran between June 30 and July 1, 2020, in Tehran, Karaj, and Malayer. An undercover informant reportedly conveyed information to authorities and aided them in uncovering the Christians’ church meetings.  

Evin Prison is known for its egregiously poor living conditions and its neglect of inmates. 

During her time in Evin Prison, Khajavi was allegedly denied adequate medical care for a broken ankle she sustained before her imprisonment. She suffered with pain and difficult mobility, particularly when attempting to reach the second-level bunk bed she had been given in her cell. 

Christian converts are routinely intimidated and persecuted in Iran. The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), citing Article 18, reported in April 2025 that arrests of Christians increased sixfold between 2023 and 2024. 

“Iran’s relentless persecution of Christians has surged in intensity and brutality over the last year, with the evangelical Christian community singled out for violent arrests and interrogations, lengthy prison terms that have increased six-fold,” CHRI stated. In 2024 alone, 96 Christians were sentenced to a combined total of 263 years in prison, according to the Article 18 report. 

By Lynn Arias