Mojdeh Fallahi, Christian Convert, Arrested by Intelligence Ministry Agents in Shiraz

Mojdeh Fallahi, a Christian convert, has been arrested by agents of the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence in Shiraz and transferred to the 'Plate 100' detention center, which is under the supervision of this ministry and located near Adelabad prison. According to the Instagram page of 'Article 18 Organization', Ms. Fallahi's arrest occurred on September 10 when she went to the prosecutor's office to provide documents for the release of a friend who had been arrested the day before. The organization stated that the charges against Mojdeh Fallahi are 'Christianity' and 'illegal Christian activities', despite the fact that she has not had 'much activity related to Christianity' and has been working as a hairdresser. According to this report, Ms. Fallahi's family, all of whom are Christian converts and victims of religious repression by the Islamic Republic, have not been able to meet with her, and she has been deprived of legal counsel. Maryam and Marjan Fallahi, Mojdeh Fallahi's sisters, were among eight Christian converts who, along with their husbands, were arrested in July 2019 in Bushehr and collectively fined 14 million tomans. Maryam Fallahi, who was a nurse, was permanently barred from working in government institutions after her arrest and, by court order, was deprived of custody of their adopted daughter, whom the judge considered to be Muslim. Previously, the human rights organization 'Hengaw' reported that in the first six months of this year, at least 34 activists from religious and ethnic minorities, including 17 women, were sentenced by the Islamic Republic's judiciary to a total of 160 years in prison and 148 lashes. According to this report, at least 23 Baha'i activists were sentenced to a total of 110 years and 2 months in prison, 8 Christian converts to 49 years and 9 months in prison, 2 Yarsani activists to 2 years in prison and 148 lashes, and one Sunni activist to 7 years in prison. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed concern on July 20 about the increasing pressure on religious minorities in Iran, stating that about 200 Iranians are in the Islamic Republic's prisons for religious or ideological reasons.