News / Thoughts

Update: Iranian Christian prisoner on hunger strike

Maryam (Naseem) Naghash Zargaran has been allowed out of prison to receive medical treatment.

Maryam, a believer from a Muslim background, has been held for nearly three years in Evin Prison in Tehran and has been suffering from a variety of ailments, most recently nausea, severe headaches and pain in her ears. Previously the prosecutor’s office had refused to grant permission for Maryam to be treated outside the prison, even though the medical authorities in the prison recognised the severity of her condition and advised that she needs hospital care.

On Thursday 26 May Maryam started a hunger strike as a protest against the lack of medical care for her.The anxieties suffered by Maryam’s family and friends were compounded by the refusal of prison authorities to provide information on Maryam and her condition.

Middle East Concern report that permission was granted for Maryam to leave prison on medical furlough on 5 June, but due to problems in bureaucratic procedure her release on bond was delayed until today (6 June).

Pray now…

• That Maryam will receive proper treatment, and will be restored to good health
• That the Lord will bless Maryam and her family during this time they will have together
• That Maryam will be fully released from prison soon
• That God will be work in the Iranian authorities and officials, moving them to love mercy and act justly.

Original post: 6th June

Family and friends of imprisoned Iranian Christian, Maryam (Naseem) Naghash Zargaran, have asked for urgent prayer for Maryam, after she went on hunger strike on 27 May, 2016. Sources close to her family say that her condition is serious and that Maryam is close to becoming comatose.

Maryam, who suffers from long-standing health issues, went on hunger strike to protest against the lack of adequate medical treatment. She has been refusing to take solids, liquids and has not allowed prison medical staff to give her serum.

Maryam, a convert from Islam, was originally arrested in January 2013 in connection with her work at an orphanage, alongside recently released Saeed Abedini. She is nearly three years into her sentence at Tehran’s Evin prison and has a history of heart problems.

In October 2015 she was allowed to receive a few days’ treatment outside the prison, but forced to return before it was completed. Maryam recently reported pain in her ears and head.

In 2014, Open Doors ran a letter-writing campaign for Maryam, after she had suffered a heart attack in prison

Pray now…

• That Maryam would be granted the medical support she needs, and that she would be freed soon
• That God would be alongside other imprisoned Christians in Iran, such as Mohammad Reza Omidi
• For freed Iranian Christians who face a lifetime of surveillance, that they would be able to attain privacy and time with God.