The US State Department has condemned Iran's intensified repression of Christians, drawing particular attention to the case of Ghazal Marzban, a 42-year-old Catholic woman held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison who has been on hunger strike. The Trump administration issued its statement on the regime's human rights violations at the same time as fresh US military strikes against Iran, launched in response to Tehran's attacks on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, giving the condemnation added political weight amid escalating tensions.

Marzban was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for practising her Christian faith, according to Iranian experts cited by Fox News Digital, and her physical health had reportedly deteriorated as of late May, with her current condition unknown. The advocacy group Article 18 said that after converting, the Islamic law graduate was barred from sitting her bar entry examination, while her husband, also a convert, has been denied medicine for his Parkinson's disease. A State Department spokesperson called the regime's continued persecution of religious minorities "reprehensible", though it remains unclear whether Washington intends to escalate pressure on Iran over the issue.