After nine months in immigration detention, Iranian Christian convert Reza was freed this week, his pastor Ara Torosian reported. Reza’s church kept track of his exact time in detention: 267 days.
“We are so happy,” said Torosian, the pastor of the Farsi-speaking congregation Cornerstone West Los Angeles, in an interview with CT. But the pastor is concerned about other Iranian Christians, including in his own congregation, who remain in immigration detention.
Border Patrol agents detained Reza and his wife, Marjan, who are Christians and asylum seekers from Iran, on a Los Angeles sidewalk near their home in June of last year. Torosian captured the arrest on video, which went viral as Marjan had a panic attack and convulsed on the ground during the arrest. (CT withheld the couple’s full names to protect their safety and their family in Iran.)
The couple had been part of Cornerstone West Los Angeles for about a year before their arrest.
Reza was in detention ever since in New Mexico. Marjan was released after 120 days in detention and was granted asylum, but two different judges were handling the couple’s cases.
Christian groups like Women of Welcome raised an outcry about the arrests because Iranian Christian converts from Islam face arrest, torture, and potential execution in Iran. Torosian said the government lawyer prosecuting the case against Reza did not seem to understand the threats Christian converts faced in their home country. Torosian said Iranian authorities had recently searched the home of Reza’s parents for Christian material but—because they are not Christians—found nothing. That underscored the threat Reza faced, Torosian argued.
Reza’s church is now praying for other detained Iranian Christians in the US, including a fellow congregant. In addition, two Iranian Christians from a church in Texas are in detention and one is facing deportation orders but is appealing, according to World Relief’s Lauren Rasmussen.
Reza and Marjan’s advocates said the couple had followed the legal procedures for asylum seekers. Prior to 2025, it was unusual for asylum seekers to be detained while their cases were pending.
In November, Reza was granted “CAT withholding” rather than asylum, which meant he faced a threat of torture in Iran but was subject to deportation to a third country. Reza could appeal the decision.
His lawyers then filed a habeas petition in federal court, which led to his release, said Torosian.
The release comes as the US has all but ended admission for international refugees other than white South Africans. And now the US is at war with Iran, with the Department of Homeland Security warning of Iranian “sleeper cells” in the US.
This past Sunday, Torosian was two points into a six-point sermon on Luke when he felt called to end his sermon and have the congregation pray. Marjan prayed, along with another family with members in detention. They prayed for America, for Iran, and for detained Iranians, and people wept.
“Usually my church is not an emotional church,” Torosian said. The next morning, Torosian heard from Reza’s lawyers.
Upon news of his release, the church sent money to fly him from El Paso to Los Angeles. The church had already established a fund for Christian asylum seekers in need. Torosian said he told Reza he was proud of him for “being a light in that prison.”
Torosian had promised Reza an Iranian meal on his release, which they scheduled for lunch together on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Torosian canceled his sermon on Sunday for the church to worship, praise God for Reza’s release, and celebrate the Iranian new year, Nowruz.
“God did amazing things,” Torosian said.
