Pastor Irani has been through a lengthy ordeal because of his Christian faith. He was first arrested in December 2006 and then in 2011 was sentenced to six years in prison for “action against the state” and “action against the order”.
CSW reports that he has been tortured and mistreated while in Ghezal Hesar Prison. This included being held in an isolated cell where guards repeatedly woke him from sleep. Later he was placed in a room with other inmates where they could not lie down to sleep. After that he was moved to a filthy cell shared by 40 criminals, many of whom are violent.
He has also suffered regular beatings from cell mates and prison authorities.
His court summons came two weeks after his Bible and other Christian literature were confiscated by the Iranian authorities.
