The Christian converts the US is deporting back to Iran

Converts from Islam make up a significant share of Iran's 800, 000 Christian population, says Steve Dew-Jones of Article 18, a UK-based advocacy group that monitors violations against Christians in the country.

With officially recognised churches tightly restricted, house churches have begun to emerge across the country. But practitioners continue to face persecution, Dew-Jones says.

Converting from Islam is treated as apostasy, and converts face arrest, interrogation and prison terms.

Arrests have increased sixfold between 2023 and 2024, the Center for Human Rights in Iran reports. "Since the recent Iran–Israel clashes, we've seen the authorities use the term 'Zionist Christianity' even more aggressively. By branding converts as agents of Israel, the state frames ordinary religious practice as a national-security threat," Dew-Jones adds.

Some Iranians seeking asylum abroad cite conversion as part of their claim, while Iranian officials accuse them of exaggerating or fabricating conversions to strengthen their cases.

But it is unclear how many US asylum cases may be exaggerated, versus real fear of persecution.

"It's impossible to judge the sincerity of someone's faith - there's no window into people's souls," Dew-Jones says. "Yes, the system can be abused, but we also see many legitimate converts whose testimonies and church records aren't taken seriously by asylum courts."

Asylum outcomes can diverge sharply even within a single household, Iranian asylum seekers and legal experts say.

In late June, ICE officers arrived at Marjan and Reza's house in Los Angeles. In video filmed by their pastor, Marjan is seen collapsed outside as agents detain her husband. Moments earlier she had called him pleading for help. The couple - both Christian converts from Iran who had applied for asylum in the US - were taken to separate detention centres. Weeks later, their cases diverged: Marjan was granted asylum in California, while Reza, held in New Mexico, was ordered to be removed to a third country.

After their June arrest, the Department of Homeland Security said on its X account that "during a targeted enforcement operation in Los Angeles, Border Patrol agent apprehended two Iranian nationals unlawfully present in the US - both flagged as subjects of national security interest."

Pastor Ara Torosian, who filmed their arrest, disputes the Department of Homeland Security's claim that the couple were unlawfully present in the US.

He says they entered legally through a humanitarian programme and had work authorisations. "How can it be dangerous for the wife but not for the husband?" asks pastor, Ara Torosian, who himself fled Iran in 2010 after being detained for smuggling Bibles.

Majid, who managed to slip through the airport in Turkey, has been living in limbo since, while his lawyer follows up on his case. His wife, whose asylum case is still pending, now lives in Los Angeles with their 1.5-year-old daughter - a child who has never met her father.

In the US, Ali is living with a friend from his church, and hoping his own asylum claim will be more successful than that of his wife, who was deported to Iran this year.

"If they grant me asylum, how can I stay here when my wife is in Iran? If they deport me, I could go to prison the moment I land."

Unable to work legally or open a bank account. He first stayed with a distant relative "just until my wife's case was resolved," but she was never released and, after nearly a year in detention, was deported. A small church later offered him temporary shelter.

"Anytime they ask me to leave, I have to sleep in parks," he says.

He is awaiting an immigration hearing but sees no good outcome. His wife has received another summons from Iranian intelligence.

"If they arrest her and demand I return," he says quietly, "I'll have no choice."