Prisoners freed on eve of President’s UN address
| Mostafa Bordbar, 27, is serving a 10-year sentence. Mohabat News |
Two Christian women were among a number of prisoners of conscience released in Iran, ahead of new President Hassan Rouhani’s first address to the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
Since his election in June, Rouhani has projected a tone that is less strident than that of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, following a couple of months in which at least a further 20 Christians have been arrested on charges of “acting against national security”, Rouhani still has some way to go to win over sceptics.
Mitra Rahmati and Maryam Jalili were released from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Sept. 17. Mohabat News reports that the pair would likely have been released in one month’s time, after almost completing their two-and-a-half-year stints for evangelism among Muslims, and their membership in a Christian group.
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