These Christians are known to be held in prison in Iran solely for their faith in Christ. There are almost certainly more.
Yousef Naderkhani, was arrested October 2009 and held in Rasht. He was sentenced to death November 13th 2010 for apostasy. Yousef Naderkhani’s wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, has also suffered. She was arrested on 10th June 2010, and released on 12th October, 2010. The couple has two young sons.
Vahik Abrahamian, an ethnic Armenian, was arrested September 4th, 2010. Vahik Abrahamian holds dual citizenship from Iran and the Netherlands. A former drug addict, he chose to live in Iran to share the hope of Jesus Christ with the many addicts there. His wife, Sonia Keshish-Avanesian, supported his work. They do not have children. Sonia was imprisoned with Vahid. She was released without bail on 1st May 2011.
Farshid Fathi was arrested on 26th December 2010 and held in Evin prison, Tehran. He is married and has two young children. In March 2011 his family raised the $200,000 for his bail, but when they went to complete the formalities, they were told he could not be released. No formal charges have been made.
Abrahim Firouzi was first arrested on 8th January, 2011 in Robat Karim near Tehran. On 29th January he was charged with ‘evangelizing,’ ‘keeping many copies of the Bible’ and ‘apostasy’. (His family was not able to raise the bail set at $40,000, so he remains in prison.)
Masoud Delijani was arrested 17th March, 2011 in Kermanshah. Seven others arrested with him were released, while two others, Nahid Shirazi and Meghdad Mabakarami, had to raise bail of $20,000 and $40,000 respectively. However Masoud Delijani has been kept in prison.
Noorollah Ghabitizadeh was arrested on December 24th 2010 in Defzool, Khuzestan.