Yousef Nadarkhani, the leader of a house church, has been released from prison, but his exile and flogging sentence remain in effect.

Upon his release, Nadarkhani noted that although his release papers mentioned "pardon," he learned through his lawyer that his case remains open. He faces 40 lashes for "absences during leave," with one-third of the lashes reportedly pardoned, but the disciplinary council will contact him to carry out the remaining punishment. Nadarkhani was released on a bail of 20 million tomans.

During his four years and ten months in prison, Nadarkhani was granted leave only twice. He claims that during one of these leaves, he had spoken with prison officials who had agreed to extend his leave, but upon his return, the officials denied this agreement.

In addition to his prison sentence, Nadarkhani has been sentenced to two years of exile to Nikshahr County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. This exile order remains in effect, and arrangements are to be made for its execution.

Previously, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had stated in February 2021 that Iran violated international human rights commitments by imprisoning Yousef Nadarkhani.

Reports indicate that Mehdi Rakhpour, another imprisoned Christian convert, was also released in February 2023, along with two other converts, Hadi (Muslim) Rahimi and Zaman (Saheb) Fadaei.

In recent weeks, several political prisoners have been released following the leader of Iran's agreement with the judiciary's proposal to "pardon and reduce the sentences of tens of thousands of defendants and convicts."

Amnesty International has stated that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic agreed to release prisoners to quell international protests. Human rights experts have repeatedly noted that the government initially imprisons Iranian citizens on baseless charges and later "pardons" some of them from the unjust penalties imposed.

Yousef Nadarkhani, along with his wife and three other converts—Yohann Omidi, Yasser Mosibzadeh, and Zaman Fadaei—were arrested by security agents on May 13, 2016, during a gathering at a private residence in Rasht. After being released on bail, Judge Ahmadzadeh of Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Nadarkhani and two other converts from the house church known as "Iran Church" to ten years in prison each on July 25, 2017, for "forming a house church" and "promoting what was described as Zionist Christianity."

After a request for retrial, Nadarkhani's sentence was reduced to six years in prison and two years of exile around three years ago. Nadarkhani's family has also faced pressure over the years. In October 2019, Nadarkhani went on a hunger strike in protest against schools preventing the registration of his children.

The Christian organization "Open Doors" recently named Iran as the eighth most "Christian-persecuting" country in the world, and the annual report from Article 18 and three global Christian organizations indicates an increase in the repression and violation of Christians' rights in the past year.