Yousef Nadarkhani

Released Feb 26, 2023

Held 1,681 days  Arrested July 2018 in Iran

Update March 2, 2023

Middle East Concern has reported that Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani was released on February 26th, 2023 as part of a general pardon approved by the country’s supreme leader.

Update June 23, 2020

On June 22, 2020, Yousef Nadarkhani's prison sentence was reduced to six years. Further areas for appeal are also being explored.


Prisoner Details

Yousef Nadarkhani and three of his church members, Saheb (Zaman) Fadaee, Mohammad Ali (Yasser) Mosayebzadeh and Mohammad Reza Omidi, are serving 10-year prison sentences on charges of "acting against national security" and "promoting Zionist Christianity." The men are all members of the Church of Iran.

Yousef, 45, had spent nearly three years in prison after being sentenced to death for apostasy in 2010. He was acquitted in September 2012.

The believers, along with Yousef's wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, were arrested on Friday, May 13, 2016. Yousef and Fatemeh were released on bail the same day, while Saheb, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Reza were released on bail two weeks later.

The four men were sentenced in July 2017 and began their sentences a year later in July 2018, after violent arrests at their homes. Fatemeh was reportedly told she would be arrested if she left Gilan Province. Saheb, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Reza were also sentenced to 80 lashes each for drinking wine during Communion.

Yousef became a Christian at age 19. His wife is also a Christian convert from Islam, and the couple have been fighting for more than 10 years for the rights of their two boys to be recognized as Christians. For the past several years, the boys have been denied certificates showing they completed their studies, because they refused to take Islamic classes.

Petition Officials

  • Masoud Pezeshkian

    President

    Mailing Address

    President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

    Palestine Avenue, Pasteur St., Pasteur Sq.

    Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Other Contact Information

    Telephone: +98(21)64451

    Fax: 98 21 649 5880

    URL:

  • Saeed Iravani

    Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

    Email Address

    Mailing Address

    622 Third Avenue

    34th Floor

    New York, NY

    10017

    Other Contact Information

    Telephone: 212-687-2020

    Fax: 212-867-7086

  • Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei

    Leader of the Islamic Republic

    Email Address

    Mailing Address

    The Office of the Supreme Leader

    Soahada Street

    Qom, Iran

    Other Contact Information

    Fax: + 98 251 7 774 2228