Maryam Naghash Zargaran, the Christian convert in prison in Iran, is seriosly ill and in urgent need of medical care, say sources in Iran.

Maryam's health deteriorated badly last week and she has lost a lot of weight, according to the Irananian news agency Mohabat.

Maryam, who survived a hunger strike last year and is now also suffering depression and trauma, is in prison in the women's ward of the notoriously-harsh Evin prison in Iran.

She is still in prison after her incarcaeration was lengthened to compensate for time she was allowed to go home or to hospital so she could be treated for her serious medical conditions.

Iranian Christian Convert Maryam Naghash Zargaran is serving a four-year sentence in Evin Prison for practising her Christian faith in Iran.

Last year sources told the Christian charity Open Doors that her sentence had been made longer. They also described how the severity of conditions inside the notorious Evin Prison have contributed to the severity of her medical problems.

Her medical problems include heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis and lumbar disc disease.

Maryam was sentenced to four years in prison after her arrest in January 2013 in connection with work on an orphanage she did with Saeed Abedini, an American former Muslim who converted in 2000.

Abedini, active in the underground house church movement in Iran, was also imprisoned in Evin. He was released in January last year and returned to the United States, where his wife has filed for divorce.

Maryam's hunger strike last year lasted 27 days. She stopped after she was told she would be released, but as yet there seems to be little sign of that.