Show the persecuted that they are not forgotten!

“Laleh Saati converted to Christianity. The regime arrested her and took her to Evin Prison. She is in poor mental health there,” an exiled Iranian woman reported to the ISHR. Following the arrest of the 46-year-old Iranian Christian on February 13, 2024, in her father’s house, a summary trial followed: It began on March 16, and eight days later, the notorious judge Iman Afshari of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran handed down the verdict: 24 months in prison for “endangering national security” through alleged links to Zionist-Christian organisations. Saati turned her back on Islam and was baptised during a stay in Malaysia. Since 2017, she has returned to her Iranian homeland, worried about her elderly parents.

The court denied her request for a suspended sentence. Instead, they tried to pressure her into making a false confession, threatened her with further charges, and denied her necessary medical treatment. Human rights organisations like the IGFM appealed to the regime to finally release the Christian woman: In February 2025, we – together with the Evangelical News Agency IDEA – featured her as “Prisoner of the Month.” The worldwide campaign had an impact, albeit a delayed effect: On May 31, she was finally released after 15 months in prison.

What happened to Saati is something that is increasingly being experienced by more and more people in Iran: by 2024, the number of Christians imprisoned there had already increased sixfold. According to observers, the mullah regime is trying to intimidate the growing community of citizens who are leaving Islam and becoming Christians. The state apparatus is attempting to contain this development with extreme brutality. The ISHR is aware of many other fates of prisoners of faith and conscience, as well as political prisoners in Iran; we are leaving no stone unturned to improve their situation. Thorough research, maintaining contacts, and preparing reliable information for the general public as well as for policymakers (including members of the European Parliament, national and regional parliaments, and other prominent decision-makers) are essential to show prisoners that they are not forgotten and to ensure the abuses of this radical Islamic dictatorship are no longer overlooked. ISHR carries out this work through careful documentation, sustained advocacy and targeted public information. To continue operating at the same intensity, we estimate the additional cost of these activities at approximately €6,000 for the fourth quarter of 2025. ISHR helps by funding research, maintaining networks, and producing public briefings.