The U.S. State Department has classified Iran as a “country of particular concern” for “having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

“Christian Woman in Iran Suffering in Custody, Relatives Say,” Morning Star News, October 1, 2024:

LONDON (Morning Star News) – A Christian woman held without charges in Iran since Sept. 9 wept uncontrollably during the five minutes her mother was allowed to visit her on Monday (Sept. 30), a relative said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arrested Mojdeh Falahi, 36, a convert from Islam, when she went to the prosecutor’s office in Shiraz at the request of a Christian who had been arrested the previous day and told her he needed documents in order to be released.

During the visit on Monday, the second by her mother, Falahi wept unconsolably, and her family is worried about mistreatment by authorities and conditions of her confinement, said Sam Khosravi, Falahi’s brother-in-law.

“Psychologically, she is in a very bad condition and only cries,” Khosravi told Morning Star News.

Falahi, who works as a hairdresser, has been transferred to the Pelak-e 100 Detention Center, a prison run by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, according to Khosravi.

Though no charges have been filed against Falahi, her family believes intelligence agents are intensely interrogating her for information about other Christians. Relatives are particularly worried because Falahi’s detention has lasted more than 10 days, unusual in investigations of most Christian women, Khosravi said.

“Mojdeh’s mother goes to the court every day to pursue the case and asks the judge to release her,” Khosravi said on Monday (Sept. 30). “She went to the court today, and after a lot of begging, the judge allowed her to see Mojdeh.”

Relatives are also confused about her detention because she is not a leader in any church and would be less likely to have information about other Christians, Khosravi said. She has not been given access to a lawyer….