US calls on Iran to release Catholic convert, other prisoners of conscience

The United States is calling for the release of all prisoners of conscience targeted by the Iranian regime for their religious faith as conflict continues to engulf the Middle East. 

In a statement shared with Fox News, the U.S. State Department expressed “unwavering solidarity with the people of Iran” and called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all political and wrongfully detained prisoners, including those facing persecution for peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms.”

The State Department issued the statement in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing imprisonment of Catholic convert Ghazal Marzban, who was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison on trumped-up charges after her Bible and Christian literature were seized during a January raid on her home.

The prisoner of conscience has undergone a hunger strike. 

“We are aware of these reports. It is reprehensible that the Iranian regime continues to persecute religious minorities, including Iranian Christians,” a State Department spokesperson added. “In Iran, human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief, are completely ignored. The regime targets members of religious and ethnic minority groups and uses tactics like arbitrary arrest and torture to intimidate opponents and silence dissent.”

Marzban's charges include propaganda against the state as well as gathering and collusion against national security. Marzban previously spent time in prison in 2024 for protesting harassment and advancing propaganda against the regime by chanting slogans. She has also faced retaliation from the Iranian regime for her conversion to Catholicism.

She was prevented from taking the bar exam and pressured to leave Iran, while her husband, a fellow Catholic convert, has been unable to obtain the medication necessary to treat his Parkinson’s disease. 

Late last year, five Iranian Christians were sentenced to a combined 50 years in prison for “gathering and collusion” and spreading “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic. Their offenses included praying, being baptized, posting on social media and distributing Bibles as part of what authorities called “illegal evangelistic activity.”

Earlier this year, the religious freedom watchdog group Article 18 reported that at least 19 Christians were killed during a crackdown on anti-regime protests. 

Conflict in the Middle East continues nearly five months after the U.S. and Israel conducted raids that killed Iran's supreme leader. 

The U.S. and Iran had agreed to a framework deal to end the conflict after months of fighting and economic fallout. That agreement included the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts.” But President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday that “the CEASE FIRE IS OVER!”

In a subsequent post, Trump informed Iran that “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran” and threatened to “completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran.” 

Trump doubled down on his strong rhetoric against Iran in a post Tuesday, maintaining that the country’s “lying, violent, malicious leadership” is “taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION.”